Stars and Spells
by Oroshi-No-Mercy
Summary: Part One: Katya and Astrid are meister and weapon. But, Katya's secret is becoming less and less a secret as she handles her love life with Black Star and the shadows that lurk in her past. In order to keep her life, she must keep her promise with Death and also keep Death City safe from Medusa.
1. Chapter 1

All the good missions seemed to have been taken. Black Star took the best one, killing Alcipone would've gotten Astrid enough to be close to finish. Maka seemed to have lost her souls and had to start over, wasn't she on 99? The other good ones were taken by an unknown student, whoever that person was took all the ones that would've made Astrid into a better weapon. Katya had her arms crossed as she eyed the bulletin board angrily. As one of the newest top meisters, she had thought coming across a better mission would've been easier for her since her position had risen. Instead, she was fighting and kicking her way to the front of a crowd just to get passing missions.

She gritted her teeth as she stomped away with nothing to show for. Her midnight black hair swung from side to side near her thighs as she approached her weapon, Astrid. Katya's sharp, baby blue eyes glowered at the floor as she grumbled, "We've still yet to get you a kishin soul. This is going to be more irritating than expected."

"Don't get doubtful yet," Astrid smiled, her braided, light green hair bounced slightly as she put her hands behind her back, "We'll make me a death sythe even if it takes us a hundred years."

Katya's mood darkened at Astrid's 'hundred year' remark, causing her to walk away dismayed as Astrid quickly walked after her. The two young females walked into the fresh daylight hours as Katya put her hands in her back pockets. She felt Astrid link her arms along with her right arm as she always did. Katya sighed as she led Astrid away from the building, she was getting tired of the basic choices on missions. She glanced to her side to see Maka heading away from the building. Katya was in the same class rank as Maka now, but how come she was getting all the good missions while Katya was stuck with barely anything to work with?

"Let's follow her," Katya suggested as she started to lead Astrid towards Maka.

"What for? She can't really help us and-" Astrid then put two and two together, her dark brown eyes widened with surprise, "Katya...we can't just take the soul she's going after. That's cheating and it's against the rules!"

"Nothing says that we have to take what we signed up for," Katya shrugged as she continued to follow Maka, "Besides, it's just one soul. Don't you want to be stronger? Do you really want me to carry all the weight between us?"

This made Astrid glance downwards as she bit her bottom lip. Astrid hated being asked those questions and Katya smirked knowing her partner would decide to go along with her plan. Katya and Astrid kept their distance from Maka and Soul. They didn't want to get too close in case Maka would sense their souls nearby, but they didn't want to lose track of them either. Katya had Astrid transform into her war-axe and strapped the weapon to her back as she pursued in silence. Her black, thigh-high combat boots were great to keep a low-profile cover as her dark gray, short dress made it flexible to travel in. Katya followed Maka for a few hours until she and Soul stopped in a field where a kishin was ready to eat five human hostages.

"Jeffery Donmer," Katya murmured to herself as she eyed the kishin, "His soul will do just nicely."

Donmer's spirit was still human-like, but on his head was only a large, jagged tooth mouth. His hands were claws soaked in blood as he neared his hostages. Devouring human flesh before his death took the humanoid side of his spirit into a demonic one. Anymore, Donmer desired more and more flesh of any unfortunate humans that passed by with their meat-scent filling his core.

"_Katya...I think this is a really bad idea. Death will be really mad if he finds out about this,_ " Astrid spoke through to Katya, "_And what about Maka and Soul? They'll surely come after us if we take what they've worked hard for. We're only new at this.._"

"And we'll get recognition for being the toughest pair ever," Katya stated as she wielded her war-axe.

Katya's war-axe is twenty-feet long and an inch-wide at the rock and five feet for the silver wedge. The rod has a serpent-like design with a sharp point at the top and bottom. Anyone who tries to pick up the war-axe without Katya's consent will trigger Astrid's response in making the weapon physically impossible to wield. Katya kept low to the ground as she held her war-axe closer to the ground to where they would remain unseen, "Ready, Astrid?"

Her partner remained silent just before Katya took off in a high-speed run before running in between both Soul and Maka. She heard them protest angrily, trying to stop her, but Katya beat them to the punch. The spirit of Jeffery Donmer turned in shock to see someone ready to kill him just before Katya sliced him right in half. In a flash, the kishin spirit of Donmer disintigrated into pieces and a red, circular soul remained. Astrid turned into her original form and eyed the soul warily, "Katya..."

"Hurry up and eat it before-!"

"Hold it right there!" Maka approached Katya from behind, "This is against the rules and i'll have Death know exactly who did this!"

Katya glared over at Maka before quickly rushing over to the soul and shoved it into Astrid's mouth. She kept her hand over Astrid's mouth before she knew the soul had been swallowed reluctantly. Astrid lightly shoved herself away from Katya as she bowed down to Maka and Soul, "I'm so sorry, i'm so sorry what my partner and I have done! It was so recklesss of us and I hope you do forgive us!"

"We have just as much of a right to that soul as you do! You already have a lot of them, one won't kill you," Katya stated angrily as she got in Maka's face.

"And who are you to decide who gets to have a soul or not!" Soul shoved Katya away from Maka.

"Touch me again and i'll decide who lives and who doesn't!" Katya growled at the short Soul.

"Oh yeah? Let's just see then!" Soul's arm turned into the sharp end of a sythe.

"Wait just a minute!" Astrid hurriedly went in between Soul and Katya, "Can't we compromise? This isn't a typical ordeal that we normally do.."

"It sure looked like it," Maka retorted as she glared over at the two females, "Katya was able to subside both myself and Soul without even hesitating. I'm sure Death would just love to hear about this."

"P-p-please let's not be rash," Astrid put her palms together as she stood in front of Katya intentionally, "We can make this up for you somehow!"

"Wait a sec," Soul pinched his chin as he looked Astrid up and down, "You're that new girl, right? You just got top-ranked about a week or so ago."

"Well...uhm..." Astrid blushed lightly as her voice became a little more than a whipser.

"And you're Katya," Maka took a step besides Soul, pointing to Katya, who was seemingly staring at her nails, "You're only top-ranked because of the bloody messes you left during your training. Just because you made a lot of weak kishin souls pool blood doesn't make you better than anyone."

"You must not know where I come from then," Katya commented dryly as she shrugged, then her sharp gaze fell onto Maka, "I come from a long line of blood-lust murderers. It's only natural that I feel the same desire everytime I go into a battle. You've only witnessed a very, very small portion of my strength."

Astrid coyly stood besides Katya as she kept her gaze lowered as Katya put her arm around Astrid's shoulders, "And my partner's family has always been allied with my family. They are our war-weapons and each generation has become a death sythe, each stronger than the last generation."

Katya proudly smirked with a hand on her hip and Astrid in her grasp, until she noticed that Maka and Soul were no longer in front of them. Astrid wriggled her way free as she realized that Soul and Maka were already on their way to get Death. She sunk to the ground on her knees as Katya placed a hand on her own forehead, "Let's just go back to the bulletin and get another legit mission."

"We're going to be kicked out for sure," Astrid groaned as she placed her hands on the ground, "We'll have to face our ancestors in shame... I don't want to do that..."

"We're not going back now get up!" Katya forced Astrid back on her feet and gripped her shoulders, "Let that brat and short stump go to Death and say whatever they want. I'll take the blame so you can be someone else's partner."

Astrid's eyes widened before she gripped Katya tightly. Katya rolled her eyes, she was a little bit taller than Astrid and rested her chin on top of her head. She glanced to the side where the school building stood and knew Astrid would never get another partner, it just wasn't like her to do such a thing and it was against their familys' code. So, Katya and Astrid walked back to Katya's apartment where they shared a bed together. However, on Katya's front door was a summons by Death himself. She felt a cold chill run down her spine as she thought of approaching Death himself.

Katya kept her eyes right on Death as Astrid was the one cowering and apologizing for every little movement she made in front of him. Death peered down at Katya, "I was told of how you stole a soul today. In all of your family's history, no one has ever done such an act. I cannot even recollect someone actually stealing another soul they did not assign themselves to."

"Look, if you want an apology, i'm not going to give one," Katya put her hands on her hips, "Eversince getting one of the top-ranks, I've barely scraped by with piss poor missions and itty little souls that aren't even worth getting. Taking one from Maka and her weapon isn't a big travesty that everyone is making it out to be!"

Astrid's normally tan skin went strangely pale at Katya's outburst. Katya bit her tongue as soon as she was finished and figured she would've been kicked out. Usually she isn't fearful of getting punished by teachers or Shinigami, or even her family, but this was different. All of her family had become someone famously known for their skills, power, and blood-lust, was she really going to be the first to get kicked out?

"What's interesting about this entire situation was your family before had done the same exact act," Death tilted head to the side as Katya's eyes slightly widened at this fact.

"Exactly what?" she questioned as Astrid looked back over to Death.

"You see, I know that your father stole a soul as did his grandmother and her mother before that. It's actually quite common for someone of your bloodline to steal," Death explained, all the while a big smirk formed on Katya's face while Astrid sunk lower and lower in shame, "I'll let this slide once, but if you're going to steal more souls you should either have more stealth so to not get your identity seen or just not do it at all."

Astrid quickly bowed repeatedly as she gave many thanks to Death as Katya smirked slightly to herself. They were allowed to leave as Death watched them go, but his death sythe reared around from his hidden location, "Just like that, you're letting them go?"

"There's not much I can actually do to have them listen to me," Death turned to look back into his camera-like mirror to watch the other meisters, "One soul will persist against any odds while the other follows without question."

Later, Katya laid back on the couch as she heard Astrid cooking dinner in the kitchen. Katya was pleased to know that Death pardoned her actions, but that still meant that she had 98 more kishin souls to collect and one witch's soul in that order. She would hate to be like Maka and have to start all over again because of one mistake. Katya sipped at a soda she had grabbed earlier as she kept her gaze on the pale white ceiling. Then, Astrid entered the living room and sat a plate of food on the coffee table for Katya, "We'll have to apologize to Maka and Soul."

"No, we'r not," Katya stated as she sat straight to eat, "We're not apologizing for wanting to survive and get you stronger."

"Katya..." Astrid spoke softly, "What if we were just different than our families? Can't we just actually be nice to others and not have to play dirty just to get ahead?"

Katya rolled her eyes as she took a bite from her food. This was the same argument every night between them. Astrid was far from what her family was like. While she was ok with training, she hated every second of fighting. Katya would be the first to praise Astrid's strength as her weapon, but Astrid holds back if she feels an opponent isn't her enemy. This was Astrid's downfall every, single time. She didn't respond to Astrid's question until she finished and pushed her plate of food away, "We don't have to become murderers or kill other meisters for souls. All we need to do is take the souls and leave everyone alive. Isn't that better than killing a meister and their weapon?"

Astrid glanced from Katya to her plate of food as she nodded slightly. Katya finished drinking her soda before throwing it into the trashcan, "Besides, we're far behind. Once we have a few more souls in you, we'll do our own missions."

The two females remained silent for awhile as they thought about their situation. Katya then stood up and announced that she was going to bed. Astrid remained silent as she watched Katya enter their room. Instead of returning to bed as well, Astrid decided to go for a walk. She left a note just in case Katya looked for her and went outside to get some fresh, night air.

She didn't like arguing with Katya. It was always the same argument too. Apart of her knew that Katya wanted to live up to her family name, but what about herself? Astrid had trained alongside Katya eversince they were toddlers and had shed the same blood as Katya. Yet Astrid was the one who didn't want to fight as badly as Katya does. She sighed to herself as she stood beneath a street light. It wasn't fair to Katya and it wasn't fair to Astrid as well.

"Astrid, are you ok?"

She gasped slightly as she turned around to see Tsubaki with a basket in her grasp. Astrid took a breath of relief before smiling, "Oh, i'm fine. I'm just taking an evening walk."

"That's very relaxing," Tsubaki smiled as well, "Becareful, you never know what lurks in the shadows."

Astrid watched as Tsubaki walked away with the basket full of food. She figured that she was going to make Black Star dinner. Her thoughts went to how her situation was almost opposite with Tsubaki's. Tsubaki was a talented weapon, and Black Star didn't understand her true strength. Astrid stared at the ground with a dulled gaze. In her situation, she was holding Katya back.

The next day, Katya entered the classroom with Astrid trailing behind her. Katya placed her hands on her hips as she looked at her new classroom and tried to find a good seat in the far back for herself and Astrid. Astrid gently grasped Katya's hand to give it a light tug, "There's two seats in the front.."

"Oh... Well, there's two seats in the back. Let's take those," Katya shrugged as she led Astrid to the back.

Class had gone by slowly, too slowly for Katya's liking. When class finally ended, she and Astrid were one of the few that remained. Katya stood up finally only to see Maka blocking the classroom door with her arms crossed over her flat-chest. Astrid worriedly stood as Maka and Soul approached them, "We don't mean any trouble..."

"Lord Death may have forgiven your actions, but rules are rules," Maka stated sharply as she glared at Katya, who wasn't paying attention, "Are you listening to me!"

"How about a fair fight then?" Soul smirked, which got Katya's attention as she glanced over at him, "One battle and we'll settle this like meisters and weapons. Whoever wins gets the next soul either of us happens to defeat."

"If we win, then we'll take the next soul you guys get," Katya extended her hand to shake, "If we lose, which I hardly doubt we will, you can take the next one we defeat."

Maka eyed Katya's hand for a moment before extending her own and grasped Katya's hand, "It's a deal."

Katya gave Maka's hand a light squeeze, "Don't be too scared, I'll go easy on you."

"Are you two going to fight! Awesome!"

All four of them turned to see Black Star standing on the desk with his hands on his hips, "If you two are going to fight, then i'll be the referee!"

"Hold it right there."

Their new teacher, Dr. Stein, approached all five students from behind as he lit his cigarette. Katya dulled her gaze as she commented, "There's no smoking in the building, Dr. Stein.."

"Regardless, you two still need a teacher to watch the match," he retorted as he fixed the screw in his head, "This should be interesting."

The battle was taken place just outside the school building. A crowd of students circled Katya, Astrid, Maka, and Soul as the pairs faced each other right in the middle. Astrid grazed her fingers against Katya's wrist as she murmured, "This is a bad idea... What if we lose?"

"We're not going to lose," Katya smirked as she grasped Astrid's wrist, "Now turn into my weapon and have faith in me, i'll never let us lose."

"Quit talking and start!" Maka yelled as she wielded her sythe and running after them.

Astrid quickly turned into a large war-axe as Katya easily dodged Maka's swing. Her amber eyes turned into a bright crimson as she analyzed Maka's body movements. She could see Maka's arteries dialate from moving so fluidly, her heart rate was calm as her soul easily matched Soul's. This was typical in any meister who had the perfect weapon for them. However... Katya smirked as she continued to dodge Maka's attacks...Maka was no match for Katya's own skills.

"Soul..." Maka stopped swinging and jumped away from Katya, "She's not fighting back..do you know what she's doing?"

"_Don't you know who she is?"_ Soul asked.

"Of course not, i've never seen her before she decided to steal our soul," Maka quickly answered as she kept her gaze on Katya as she readied her axe.

"What's going on?" Black Star asked as he glanced over at Dr. Stein.

Dr. Stein fixed his glasses as he looked over at Katya, "Katya is from the Osaki Clan. A string of murders and serial killers are in her bloodline. Her clan has fought alongside Lord Death for centuries and have been accepted into the academy. The reason why Lord Death allows her clan to enter and fight for him is because of their love of blood."

"That doesn't answer my question.." Black Star retorted as he turned his attention back to Katya, who was now casually walking over to Maka.

"Katya has no ordinary capabilities," Dr. Stein sighed before taking a drag from his cigarette, "She fights, and kills, for fun. This is her advantage, she'll figure out Maka's and Soul's connection before making one big show before completely destroying them."

"She's trying to be the star here then..." Black Star growled, "I'll show her..."

"You may want to wait until she's not expecting it," Dr. Stein shrugged, "Best not to get in her line of vision when she sees red."

"Astrid," Katya murmured as her smirk widened, "Make it rain blood."

"_Right,"_ Astrid made the wedge of the axe glow a deep red.

Then, in a split second, Katya was right in front of Maka as she swang her axe towards her neck. Maka didn't hesitate as she blocked the axe with her sythe. Katya jumped off the ground and kicked Maka in the stomach before leaping off of her back towards the sky. She raised her axe high to her side as she came crashing down to slash Maka! A cloud of smoke surrounded the two meisters, causing the other students to murmur about what could have happened and who could've died. The smoke began to disappear as the appearance of Dr. Stein easily blocking the final blow of Katya's axe with Maka using her sythe to hopefully stop the attack.

"Alright, enough of this. Katya would've sliced you to pieces, i'm giving her the match," Dr. Stein stated as he held his cigarette with his free hand, "Now the four of you have settled whatever score you have."

After everything was said and done, Katya and Astrid stood proudly as Maka dusted herself off with Soul turned away to where the others were facing his back. Maka glared at the ground as Katya walked over to her, "No hard feelings then? It's obvious that-"

Astrid covered Katya's mouth and made her meister bow slightly, "You two put up a really good fight is what she means to say. Thank you for the opportunity."

Maka lightened her glare on Astrid and smirked slightly, "I don't really care for your meister that much, but she has a really good partner like you. A deal is a deal, the next soul we get is yours."

"Oh, it's ok," Astrid smiled, which caused Katya to bite her hand, "Ow!"

"No! A deal is a deal!" Katya hissed angrily at Astrid.

"If we were able to beat them, then we can defeat a kishin soul for ourselves," Astrid stood her ground, "You don't have to follow in your family's footsteps, you can pave a path for yourself!"

"I'm going to guess this is personal..." Maka took a step back, "I'll just be going.."

Before they even knew it, Maka was already gone. Katya noticed first and sighed, "Good, she's gone."

That evening, back at their home, Astrid and Katya sight in silence as each glared at the other. Born as meister and weapon destined to fight together, they each knew that this fight wouldn't last long. Katya was the first to glance away as she sipped at her drink. She could tell that Astrid was really upset with her, but she didn't need Astrid's constant concern. So, she turned her gaze to the table, "I know you're mad at me, but you're going to have to see where i'm at in this life. I'm here at the DWMA under the constant watch of Lord Death and always hoping I have his acceptance here. When you say that i'm always trying to follow in my family's footsteps...look how much family I have left. No one else is alive and i'm the only one living under the watch of the man who killed them. So when I act a certain way or I do something that reminds you of my family, then you're going to have to remember how far i've come without having any of my blood family around. I'm going out.."

Astrid watched as Katya stood up and left the apartment. She didn't stop her. If anything, it would just piss Katya off even more. Why didn't Katya realize how worried she was about her? It wasn't the murderous family she had, but it was something much stronger. Everyday, she worried that Katya would get mad enough or desire blood more to turn into her true nature. Astrid stood up and went to their room where most of their hidden treasures remained. She went to the closet and pulled out a dusty, old broom stick with Katya's initials written at the top. So many nights she had tried to break it, but it won't ever break. Katya was a witch and that could never be changed.

Katya sat a small oriental restaurant as she ordered herself some food and a drink. She fished around for her fake ID to see if she could get something stronger. The waiter came back with her food and drink when she handed him her 'ID', asking for a bottle of sake and the availability to use the bathhouse in the back. She was able to use the bathhouse and even get that bottle of sake she ordered with her food on a small tray floating on the surface. Stripping off her clothes quickly, she stepped into the warm water and poured herself a cup of sake. The strong spice of the sake reached her throat just right to make her thoughts disappear.

"First rule of an assassin..."

Was this really happening? Katya glanced over to where she heard the source of the noice. Was this kid really trying to sneak up on her? She took another shot of the sake as the warmth of the bathwater and the strength of the alcohol soon took effect. Katya squirmed slightly at the thought of being watched before turning towards the source of the noise. Peeking over the edge was Blackstar, the so called 'big star' of the DWMA? She chuckled to herself, he was so short!

"Well look who it is? The big star from the academy? I'm honored," Katya fanned herself.

"Wait..what? You know i'm the big star?" he climbed over the lattice wall quickly then leaped down, "But the bigger question is who the hell are you! How were you able to defeat Maka and Soul without getting a scratch!"

Katya took another shot of sake before turning back towards Black Star, "Hm? What was the question again?"

"I..ugh...I..." he stumbled his words as he eyed what parts of her body he could see, "Uh.."

She smiled before turning her back to him to pull her towel on. Katya stood up and turned to see Black Star still staring at her. The sake was still affecting her system, but she had enough sense to know that it was time to go home. So, she picked up her uneaten plate of food and handed it to Black Star, "I'll see you at the academy tomorrow."

With that, Katya made her way back to the locker room, changed her clothes, and headed back to her apartment. No use staying out late when she had to get up early in the morning anyways.

The next day, Astrid barely got Katya up on time for them to be on time for school. As soon as they made it to their first class, Dr. Stein had told them that Lord Death wanted to see them. So, the girls made their way to Lord Death's occupancy where each hung their head in shame. Katya believed they would be kicked out for her fake ID while Astrid thought it was because Lord Death was changing his mind and have them both killed. When they arrived in front of him, Katya kept her gaze averted while Astrid kowtowed many times and repeating how sorry she was.

"What's gotten into you two lately?" Lord Death asked as he tilted his head slightly to the side.

"You're not going to expell us?" Katya asked.

"Of course not. You've got your powers under control and both of you are top students," Lord Death chuckled somewhat, "I've brought you two here with grave news, however."

Katya and Astrid glanced at each other before looking back towards Lord Death. He continued, "Katya, your home village has been waiting for your return since the death of your family. They've been unrested long enough and are starting to cause a little trouble. I'm formally asking you to calm them, or get rid of them."

Astrid sucked in a quick breath. The people of Katya's home village were distant family members and people who served her family for generations. Killing them meant killing her own family and the people who adored her. Astrid looked over at Katya to see the determined look in her eye, "Katya?"

"I understand and will oblige," Katya bowed slightly.

"I'll be sending Black Star and Tsubaki with you as well. You must keep your magic hidden under all circumstances. Don't let the village know you're a witch," Lord Death stated sternly to her.

Katya and Astrid left Death's occupancy to go to the main door of the academy where Black Star and Tsubaki were waiting. As soon as Black Star saw the two females, his smirk widened as he pointed at Katya, "It's about time you and I fought! I've been waiting-"

"We're not fighting together," Katya commented as she approached him and his weapon, "We're on a mission together. How about we fight afterwards? Will that shut you up?"

"Hey! You can't talk to me like that! I'm a big man and-"

"Uhm..Black Star...they've already left," Tsubaki timidly interupted him.

Black Star looked around to see the main doors opened with Katya and Astrid already leaving. He cursed beneath his breath as he, and Tsubaki, ran after them to catch up. The entire time traveling there was with constant bickering between Katya and Black Star. Astrid and Tsubaki kept together behind their fighting meister partners. Though it was obvious that Katya was annoyed with Black Star, Astrid had to smile at the fact that she could tell that Katya respected Black Star as a meister. He was in a class ahead of their own and they managed to catch up to him, so Katya respected him for his superiority. Tsubaki looked over at Astrid with a worried look, "Do you think they'll get along enough to fight together?"

"I think so," Astrid shrugged as she put on her brave smile, "If they're bickering like this, then that means they already like each other."

"Like..each other..." Tsubaki stammered beneath her breath.

"Don't say anything, but I think Katya has feelings for Black Star," Astrid nudged Tsubaki a little, "She's always respected him as an assassin and wanted to fight with him sometime."

As soon as they entered the village, Katya went quiet. She vaguely remembered where her parents would take her to teach her old witch's texts. The dark, wooden homes seemed as if people had set fire to the entire village to search for something. What set the mood was the dark clouds high in the sky that let out a rumble of thunder, rain was coming soon. Katya looked at each individual house until memories poured into her mind that everything else became deaf to her. What brought her back was someone's voice calling her name. She recognized that voice and instantly felt his soul close to hers. Black Star?

Astrid felt an intense feeling as she heard Katya become still. She could feel her meister's soul become distant to her own. As the key holder to Katya's witch soul, she could always reach her meister. This time...she couldn't. Astrid took a few steps towards Katya and even called out to her, but Katya wouldn't respond to her. Then, Black Star walked forwards toward Katya and called out to her, "Hey! Katya! You're scaring Astrid!"

That's when Katya finally snapped out of her trance and turned slightly to look at Black Star. She was surprised that he was able to waken her from such a memory. Katya took a breath before turning towards the village once more, "Don't worry, any of you. I have to do this on my own, all that I ask is that you don't hurt anyone and don't let anyone hurt me."

"I'm not anyone's bodyguard..." Black Star retorted as he crossed his arms.

"Then go back to the academy," Katya began to walk into the village, "This may be too hard for you anyways."

This triggered Black Star's anger as he marched forwards, "Alright, if you want a bodyguard, then you got one!"

Katya and the others made it into the village, looking for any signs of life. She remembered how Death was saying they were causing trouble, but where was everyone? Then, a single person left a broken home with eyes widened as soon as he saw Katya. He then began shouting names from all around him before running towards her and bowing to her, "Oh thank the Old Ones! You've finally escaped that damned place! We've been waiting so long for you!"

"I've heard of the trouble this village has been causing," Katya noticed the rest of the village starting to surround her and her group, "I'm alive and safe, and stronger than ever before. There's no reason to cause such destruction."

"But..but we need you here!" one of the other villagers stepped forward, an older woman, "We've served your family for centuries. Without you here, we have no purpose."

Katya felt troubled as she thought of reasons for them to stop what they're doing. Also, she was getting nervous that Black Star or Tsubaki would figure out her identity by mistake. She hoped Astrid was keeping a good hold on her witch soul. All she could feel now was the nervousness and madness surrounding her. Not only that, but the power that was being handed to her was enough to satisfy even the highest of witches. Katya bit her bottom lip as she lowered her gaze. That is until Black Star moved to Katya's side, "All of you are worshipping the wrong person here! I'm Black Star, the best assassin of the DWMA and i'll make sure you guys know who's boss around here!"

Katya's eyes widened at his words and saw that he had just angered not one, not two, but all of the villagers. They glowered at him as if he had stabbed her and began feasting on her corpse. She quickly put her hand over his mouth and pulled him behind her, "I'm training him...don't mind him.."

"He spoke ill of our Katya," one of the other villagers growled as the others began to join in.

"He'll pay..." another villager's fists turned into a ball of fire.

Katya's eyes widened even more as she saw the magic all around her. Surely these people wouldn't force her to do what she wanted to hide? Astrid then took Katya's arm, "We have to do this. I'll transform..."

"No," Katya stated, "But transform, we're not hurting anyone."

The villagers began to ready their magic as Black Star, with Tsubaki behind him, began to really feel what this village was made of. Katya readied her weapon as she stood in front of Black Star. This village were servents for witches, they were allowed a minimal amount of magic to fight for their masters. Katya slammed her war axe into the ground and shouted, "You will not lay a hand or any type of magic on him, is this understood!"

"He's slain your name!" the original villager stated angrily, "We don't want to hurt you, but if you stand in our way, then-"

"Then do your worst," Katya growled as her amber eyes glowed a bright red.

The villagers hesitated at first, but the fireballs, magical lightning, and other elemental attacks were thrown at her. Katya blocked them all from hitting Black Star and Tsubaki, using her arms and Astrid as a shield. She bit her bottom lip as she knew what she had to do, but was preventing it so much. Astrid then stated to her, "_We can still use that, no one will know._"

"But it's too damn close," Katya grumbled as she kept restraining the villager's attacks.

"Katya!" Black Star shouted as he ducked to avoid being hit with lightning, "What the hell are you doing! You're going to get killed!"

"I'm not letting you get hurt!" Katya shouted back, then smirked, "You're going to be jealous of this!"

Then, a rich brown glowing set of wings sprouted from Katya's back. Her spirit wings spread about twenty to thirty feet wide as she took all the beatings her villagers were throwing at her. She then used her wings to tightly pack them together as her eyes glowed a bright amber at that point, "As your leader, I command you to cease or I will kill each and every one of you."

A moment passed, but the villagers slowly stopped their attacking as they stared over at Katya. Katya was about to speak, until she felt someone behind her. She turned to see aiming their palms at Black Star and Tsubaki. In an instant, Katya saw the waves of flame leave the person's palms and make it's way towards Black Star. She immediately moved herself between the flames and Black Star, using her back as a barrier. As soon as the flames hit her, she felt the pain rush through her body and her wings as she managed to deflect the attack. When the attack ended, Astrid went back to her human form and went to Katya's aide. Katya felt the crushing pain all throughout her body. She hadn't come across such pain in many years and forced herself to stay awake to make sure everyone would be safe.

"Katya?" Black Star knelt down to her, "Hey, you're going to be ok, right? C'mon, answer me."

"Our leader has sacrificed herself for your safety without hurting us," the villagers began to tear up, "We're too pitiful to even keep our leader safe. Here, we'll take her to the medical center and prepare rooms for all of you. Please take this gesture as our apology."

Astrid saw Black Star ready to answer them with anger, but turned to Tsubaki to stop him. Tsubaki covered Black Star's mouth as Astrid responded to the villagers, "We accept your apology, but please help Katya."

Dazed from the pain, Katya's spirit wings disappeared as she was transported to the medical center. She was given a salve for her back to ease the pain. Astrid had Katya lay on her stomach as she rubbed the healing salve on her back, "You were really great out there. You managed to calm the village down without having to hurt anyone."

Katya remained silent as she felt the healing salves take an instant effect. She had barely made it out alive. That blow to her back was enough to kill her if she hadn't been able to hold out for a little while longer. Without her witch abilities, she was as vulnerable as the others were. Katya cursed herself without saying a word as she rested her head on her arms. Astrid stood up to leave while Katya felt a second presense making it's way to her room through te ceiling. She had told Astrid to tell the others that she didn't want company, but who really could stop Black Star from getting what he wanted? Katya sighed to herself as she heard him fall to the ground next to her, "I'm fine, Black Star, i'm just tired. That's it."

"I want to know why you did that," he retorted as he sat next to her, "I'm an amazing fighter and you took the heat of the damage on your own. That's not what partners do and-"

"I like you," Katya confessed as she turned her head away from him.

Black Star was about to continue to lecture her until he heard what she had to say. He turned his gaze to her and tilted his head to the side, "What?"

"I like you," Katya repeated, then added, "I don't want you to get hurt because of my problems. You don't realize it, but I really like you and respect you. If you see what trouble I am, then you'll only not like me and avoid me like the others. I wouldn't care if Maka, Soul, or anyone else saw this of me, but you... You mean something to me."

All was silent in the room. Katya didn't want to look at Black Star nor did she want to know that he was sitting right next to her. She was ashamed of herself for who she was and felt like an open wound for everyone to see. Because of her abilities as a witch, because of the secret she had to keep, and because of all the trouble she and her family had caused, she was afraid to show what she had inside of her to the one person she respected the most. Then, she heard him lay down on the mat beside her. Katya quickly sat up slightly and turned her head to see that he was staring up at the ceiling. She kept the covers over her chest as she sat up, "Are you going to say anything?"

He glanced over at her and shrugged, "There's not a lot to say. You said you liked me, so I like you too."

Katya glanced away with an annoyance in her voice, "That's not how it works..."

"I'm a big man now, but i'll be an even bigger man later on," Black Star looked back at the ceiling, "I have a lot of fans and they're all rooting for me to get better everyday. Sometimes I forget to stop and really see things for what they are. So, when you say you like me and respect me, it makes me open my eyes and see that I like and respect you too."

She laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling as well. Katya could feel some type of connection with Black Star, and maybe she was rushing too far into it, but this felt right. Besides, he may not be a gentleman or a romantic that sweep her off her feet, and maybe it won't last as long as she wants. Katya had to smile to herself though. She was still happy that he still liked her even though he saw one of the dirtiest parts about her; her home.

Leaving the village and going back to the academy was an even better feeling. Katya walked casually alongside Black Star as he continued to tell stories of how he defeated this person or how he killed that enemy. It didn't take a smart person to know these were just stories, but she enjoyed hearing him talk about all the excitement that he had apparently been through. All the while she listened, Astrid could see the difference between Black Star and Katya. She was a little worried that her meister was getting too close to Black Star. Astrid looked over at Tsubaki who seemed to be even more worried than she was.

"It's good to see them getting along," Astrid tried to lighten the mood.

"Yeah...it's really...nice," Tsubaki did her best to answer.

Astrid couldn't seperate Black Star or Katya away from each other. He came over to their apartment so he could talk with Katya all night. They fell asleep on the floor sometimes from talking so long. Then, they would quickly shower before eating together and going to class together...on time. Astrid felt as if she were losing a very hard battle. She was still connected with Katya's soul, that would never change, but she was losing a very close friend to someone who barely knew her.

For weeks they were inseperable. Astrid and Tsubaki watched without much hope as their meisters became closer than before. They had inside jokes, they trained with each other, and they even sat next to each other in class now. It was getting harder to watch. Katya had gone to the restroom with Black Star waiting in the classroom for her, but Astrid made a quick escape to find her friend. She found Katya primping herself in the bathroom. This took Astrid by surprise, she never saw her meister primp herself in all of their years together. Astrid blocked the door as she gazed at the ground, "So...what's up with you and Black Star all of a sudden?"

"Hm? Oh, we're kind of dating or something," Katya softened her hair as she looked herself up and down, "Sorry if we've been hanging out too much, but I have to say that i'm liking this guy more than I have before with any one else."

"Anyone else, huh..." Astrid sharpened her glare on the floor, "Did you forget your weapon or the fact he has a weapon he needs to train with on his own?"

"It sounds like someone is jealous," Katya commented dryly, "Our soul wavelengths are still in perfect unison and so is his with Tsubaki's. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go back to class."

It didn't take but a small shove to get Astrid out of the way. Katya didn't want to be rude to her only closest friend, but she needed a break from secrecy, hiding, and watching the crowds go by. This was her chance to be seen as a normal meister and she wasn't about to give it up just yet. When she got back to the classroom, she sat next to Black Star who was already murmuring an inside joke to her. Astrid entered the classroom and sat next to Maka and Soul, glaring at Katya from afar.

"Looks like Black Star has himself a girlfriend. I never thought i'd see the day," Soul commented as he leaned back in his seat.

"She's not his girlfriend, they're just dating..." Astrid grumbled beneath her breath.

"Uhm...that usually means that they are boyfriend and girlfriend," Maka corrected as she looked over at Astrid, "Are you ok? You seem pretty mad."

"No," Astrid quickly opened her textbook, "I'm fine, perfectly fine. In fact, i'm so fine, that I can barely pay attention to this classroom and read this really fine textbook that has amazingly fine knowledge for me to finally learn."

"Uh..ok..if you say so..." Maka nervously scooted towards Soul then whispered to him, "We have to figure something out about these two or they'll rip each other to shreds."

The rest of class went by quite easily and the weekend was only a day away. To celebrate the weekend, Soul and Maka decided to invite everyone to their place for dinner. Black Star, Katya, Astrid, and Tsubaki came as one group while Kid, Liz, and Patti came as another. Katya and Black Star sat together as they spoke amongst themselves as they ate from a shared plate of food. Astrid and Tsubaki stood away from each other as they each tried to ignore their meisters. Maka and Soul bowed their heads in shame as they saw that their plan wasn't working. Kid then approached the two disappointed pair, "Who is that woman talking to Black Star over there? Does she go to our school?"

"I haven't seen her before. Is she dating Black Star?" Liz asked as she watched Patti dance around to the music.

"That's Katya Osaki, and she's dating Black Star," Maka answered gloomly, "It's getting their weapons pissed off at this point and I can see why."

"She's...absolutely..." Kid stared over at Katya, "Symmetrical..."

"Excuse me?" Maka, Soul, and Liz all looked dumbfounded at Kid.

"Her clothes line up perfectly with her body with the same shade on each side. Her hair is perfectly parted at the top down the middle for perfect length on both sides. She has no facial markings on her that suggest that one side is less perfect than the other. This woman is utter symmetrical perfection and I cannot stand that she would be interested in an oaf like Black Star when she can have equal symmetrical perfection from me!" Kid stated as he marched over to Katya.

A few moments passed before he was sent back discouraged as he murmured how he didn't deserve to live in such a disgusting world. Liz saw the results as this 'perfect woman' denying Kid. She didn't mind, but now she had to revive her meister before he really did try and kill himself. Maka sadly began to clean up as the other guests began to leave, except the two love birds and their angry weapons. This had to stop. Maka left Soul's side as she stood in between the four of her friends, "Alright, we have to talk this out before you two lose your weapons and you two lose your meisters."

"What's going on here?" Katya asked as she finally turned away from Black Star, "We're just having a good time with each other, we're not hurting anyone."

"You're hurting Tsubaki and Astrid," Maka pointed to them, "Obviously you two have spent too much time together to realize that your weapons are afraid that you'll forget about them."

"It's not all our fault!" Black Star stood up in front of Katya, "Tsubaki, don't you want me happy? Don't you see that we can all be friends here even if Katya and I are on a different kind of friendship?"

"I know, and I want you to be happy..." Tsubaki reasoned, then added, "I also want you to remember that you haven't said a word to me since we went on that mission with them."

"Katya," Astrid spoke up, "You used to tell me everything before, and now you spend all your time with him. It's like you forgot that I existed..."

Katya then stood up as walked over to Tsubaki and Astrid, "I hope you two understand why I want to spend time with Black Star. Especially you, Astrid, know that all I want is for us to have a normal time here at the DWMA."

"Having a normal time here is important, but at the cost of your friendship with your weapons?" Maka asked.

This time Katya and Black Star looked over at each other. Though Katya was really starting to like Black Star more and more, she had to remember who the real important person was. Astrid was her weapon and the key to her powerful soul. If anything were to happen to Astrid, Katya would always be in her witch form until she could find a spell strong enough to hold her soul back. She gave a small smile to Black Star as she shrugged, "How about you and Tsubaki come over for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan," Black Star shrugged back, both of them had to give in to the argument.


	2. Chapter 2

Astrid noticed that she and Katya were getting along better than they were before. But she could see that Katya was more positive now. Apart of her was pleased and happy to see Katya able to be someone she wanted to be, but the other part was covered in shadow and doubt. Katya was a witch and she couldn't deny that side of her for too long. She watched as Katya washed the dishes after a small meal they had shared after Tsubaki and Black Star went back to their home. Astrid stood by the entrance to their small kitchen, "So, have you and Black Star made it official yet? Are you two dating?"

"Yeah," Katya answered as she put the last of the dishes away, "We consider each other an exclusive couple."

"So... What happens now?" Astrid asked, she still feared that Katya would reject her as a weapon to fully fight by herself alongside Black Star.

"What do you mean?" Katya turned and looked over at Astrid, "Nothing is going to change, Black Star and I will still be a couple while you're still my weapon. There's nothing bad about what's going on."

"Oh..." Astrid put on a small smile, "I'm happy for you, I mean.."

"Astrid," Katya walked over to Astrid and grasped her hands lightly, "I know you're upset about all of this, so I signed us up for a mission that will show you that i'm still a great meister and you'll be stronger because of me."

This made Astrid's dark eyes light up causing Katya to smile. Their mission began with research. This would be their second kishin soul that they would retrieve so no mistakes could be made. Each girl hit the library books as they researched their target village and the kishin target they were hoping to get. The village was known as Star Gazer's Village where a kishin soul only came out when it was a cloudless night to feast on unsuspecting human souls. This kishin was once a human in this same village and was said to have become a kishin from staring at the moon too longer and devoured his entire family. Thus, he only strikes on nights when there are no clouds blocking the stars. Katya closed the book she had skimmed and looked over at Astrid, "Alright, are you ready?"

"Yes," Astrid nodded.

The two left Death City in the middle of the night. Star Gazer's Village was not too far from Death City, about a day of traveling without stopping. As soon as they left Death City, Katya turned to Astrid, "Get in your weapon form, it'll take too long if we just walk."

"You can't ride your broom..." Astrid murmured as she looked around, "Someone might see.."

"I'm not going to ride my broom, we're going to fly," Katya easily spread her spirit wings.

Astrid sighed as she turned into Katya's war-axe. Katya gripped her axe tightly as she ascended into the sky, flying at break neck speeds until she reached the village in less than an hour. When she landed, Astrid returned to her human form and vomitted from such speeds. Katya rolled her eyes, "You should get used to it by now, this is getting disgusting."

"You go too fast..." Astrid spat up more vomit, then wiped her mouth.

"Just get back in your weapon form so we can get another soul and go back home," Katya stated as she extended her hand.

Astrid then transformed back into a war-axe and Katya walked into the village with her axe resting on her shoulders. The village was bustling with life as she made way into the village. People stopped and stared at her, a stranger to their village, before whispering to each other. She could partially hear what they would say. 'She's new', or 'I haven't seen her before', and 'What the hell is she doing here?'. Katya kept quiet as she tried to find the kishin soul. He could be hiding anywhere. Then, Katya stopped walking when she heard a scream. She leaped high into the air and spread her spirit wings to see a woman being devoured whole by a grotesque, demon-like man. Katya grimaced at the gruesome sight as she heard Astrid hide a scream.

"Locked on target, let's go!" Katya shouted as she released her wings and landed on top of a roof, then ran towards the kishin, "Go to Hell!"

She easily cut him in one blow, stopping his feast and allowing the woman to escape with minor scratches and bite marks. Katya was about to wait for the soul to appear, but the body was slowly reattaching itself. Her eyes widened as she took a step back, guarding herself with her weapon, "Uhm...Astrid...what's going on?"

"He's regenerating," Astrid murmured softly.

"What! Why didn't you say he could!" Katya shouted angrily.

"You were supposed to research the kishin not just the village!" Astrid spoke calmly.

"That's...well..that's true.." Katya glanced away, then turned her attention back to the kishin, "So how can I kill him if he regenerates at all my attacks?"

Then, the kishin was ready to fight again. He swung one of his red, muscular arms towards her. Katya could see inside his body, he didn't have a normal human body with blood vessels or any type of life source. All he had was a blood-lust soul that craved more power. She began to block his oncoming attacks and keep herself from getting hit by his claws, "Astrid, answer me!"

"The only time you can successfully attack him is when the stars and moon are covered! Only then can you defeat him!" Astrid quickly answered.

Katya glanced upward for a split second then felt a wave of nausea hit her. It was an hour passed midnight, they had hours to fight before the sun would come up and an attack would effectively hit. Could she really keep this up for hours? Katya blocked off an attack as she thought of another way to stop this kishin and destroying this town because of the fight? She was breaking roofs by stepping and leaping on to them, her axe and the kishin were breaking houses down, if this fight continued until dawn then there wouldn't be any part of the village left! Katya growled as she then asked, "How far are we from Death City?"

"Katya..." Astrid took in a deep breath, "We're far from Death City, but what if-"

"We don't have enough time for 'what if' questions," Katya tossed her axe in the air, having Astrid back in her human form as the kishin cornered them, "Allow me access and I can save this city and get you this soul."

Astrid hesitated for a second as the kishin soul leaped into the air to attack them both. She then put her palms together as she allowed her soul to unlock the hidden witch soul for Katya. A strange, purple-ish light emitted from Astrid and went straight into Katya who became immersed with the light. Katya smirked as she whispered, "Soul Protection release."

Her soul greatly became much larger than before as two soul hawks flew just above her head. The wings that spread from her back was no longer a spirit form, instead they were real wings. Katya's fingers became claw like as she glanced up at the kishin above her. She then chanted, "Hawk, hawk, bird, bird, Claws of the Divine."

Katya's claw-like fingers glowed from the purple-ish color as she flew rapidly towards the kishin. The kishin let out a rageful roar just before Katya tore through him as her soul hawks tore the rest of him to pieces. She whipped around and continued to slash through the kishin until there was nothing but a glowing, red soul floating down in front of Astrid. Katya landed herself on the roof top as she put the soul protection spell back on her, allowing Astrid to hold her soul again for her.

"That wasn't too bad was it?" Katya smirked as she turned to Astrid after she devoured the kishin soul.

"That was a good show, but lets just hope no one from the academy saw," Astrid timidly looked around to see if anyone saw.

The only people who were watching were the villagers, but they didn't seem to get a good grasp on what happened. Katya summed it up as they haven't seen a witch before and figured it was just another academy student fighting with extraordinary abilities. She walked over to Astrid and put an arm around her shoulder, "I think it's time to go to bed, i'm exhausted."

The next day, Katya and Astrid walked to school like any other normal day. However, Katya stopped moving as she saw a large crowd of students huddled together outside the main doors. She wanted to know what was going on, but something was giving her a bad feeling and telling her to run. Going against her feelings, Katya walked towards the crowd and asked another student she knew was in her class, "Hey, what's going on?"

"Didn't you feel it last night? Everyone felt a witch's soul," the girl shivered in fear, "I hope they find her soon, that's just too creepy that a witch could get close to Death City."

"Yeah, really creepy," Katya murmured as she took a few steps back to talk to Astrid, "Lets just go inside, there's nothing for us out here."

"Hey, Katya! Wait up!"

Katya turned to see Black Star approaching her. Though she really wanted to go inside and away from the crowd, he was an exception. Black Star looked around and picked up on what the subject was on, "A witch, huh? Well, I have something to say on that..."

To Katya's slight dismay, she watched as Black Star marched to the middle of the crowd with his fist in the air, "If I see that ugly witch anywhere near Death City, i'll slice her to pieces and hang her dismembered head somewhere where I can see it everyday and use her soul to make a Death Sythe!"

At this point, Katya was in shock at all that was said as Astrid lightly patted her back. She couldn't be too surprised at the outburst when the DWMA were natural enemies with any witch. Black Star then extended his hand to her as the crowd watched, "You're gonna fight with me! We'll be unstoppable!"

Tsubaki smiled as she clapped, Astrid following to keep up appearance. Katya forced herself to smirk as she joined Black Star in the middle and raised her fist in the air, "We're academy students of the Death Weapon Meister Academy, we'll kill any witch that dares to come our way!"

After the crowd died down, Maka and Soul approached Katya and Black Star, "I'm gonna guess you two heard about the witch soul too, huh?"

"It was really powerful," Tsubaki commented as she put her hands together, "I've never sensed a soul that strong before."

"I don't know what Lord Death is going to do about it," Maka looked at everyone, "I'd like to know what he plans on doing about this. A witch that powerful and that close to Death City isn't exactly safe for all of us."

"Maybe it was just a wandering witch," Katya spoke up, "She probably didn't even realize she was close to Death City."

"You're too kind, Katya," Black Star smirked over at her, "I'm sure you could slaughter that witch."

Then, Kid, with Liz and Patti, approached from behind Katya and Astrid, "That witch was in Star Gazer's Village last night. I looked at the mission board just now. Katya, Astrid, you two were there last night. Didn't you see her last night then?"

"We were fighting a kishin," Astrid answered as Katya remained quiet, "But we did feel a really strong soul not too far. We couldn't stop fighting to look for a witch that could put up a harder fight."

Katya eyed Kid. He was harder to read than the others as a Shinigami, but she could tell that he was accepting their answer for now. She would have to be more careful next time she wanted to tap into her witch soul next time. Katya stood besides Black Star as she then asked, "We're all not really ready for a witch's soul anyways, i'm no where near 99 kishin souls just yet. How about we go to class and figure something out later?"

"She's right," Soul sighed, "A witch's soul would be delicious, but we haven't even fought enough kishins to get a witch's soul."

"The bell will be ringing any minute," Tsubaki commented as she looked towards the entrance doors.

It was concluded, the group went to their class where they remained quiet. Katya was nervous that she would expose herself to the others and betray her promise to Lord Death. She could barely pay attention with fear lingering in her head. As a promise to Lord Death to remain a meister in his academy, she would keep her identity as a witch a secret from the rest of the world. Katya was zoning out in her head that she didn't see the Death Sythe, Spirit, walk into the classroom and announce that Death wanted to see her. Astrid had to lightly shove her to get her up and leave. Katya's eyes widened before she forced herself to stand up and walk towards Spirit. Astrid stood up to leave as well, but Spirit put up a single index finger, "Lord Death only wants to see Katya, you have to stay here, Astrid."

"Oh..." Astrid sat back down.

She was afraid for Katya. If something were to happen to her meister, she would be a weapon without a meister. While Astrid was worrying in the classroom, Katya was living her worst fear. Each step was much worse than the last. She wanted to ask what Death wanted, but she knew Spirit would never tell her. He knew her secret and, just like many of the other teachers and staff at the academy, didn't trust her. When they reached Death's occupancy, Katya rushed forward and passed Spirit to reach Death where she then stated, "I know why i'm here and I can only say that I had to in order to defeat that kishin. Astrid, me, and the rest of that village would've been destroyed to pieces if I hadn't!"

"Is that so?" he asked, a few moments passed until he tilted his head to the side, "What are you talking about?"

Katya stood in disbelief as she made sure not to say a word. She quickly shook her head before waving her hand, "It's nothing, just making sure you knew I defeated the kishin last night."

"Terrific," Lord Death commented in a most pleased manner, then stated, "Then you can tell me what that witch looked like since you know who she is."

"No, I don't," Katya retorted, she had to keep to her own story if she wanted to remain at the academy.

"I see. Then I can only guess that it was you who let out that much power if you released your soul protection spell," Death concluded as he kept his gaze on her, "Is that true, then?"

Katya was cornered. If she confessed, she could be killed on the spot. If she lied, she could be killed as well. She kept her gaze on Death as she nodded, "It was me. I did it to-"

"Keep yourself, Astrid, and the village safe from the kishin. Funny, the soul was very powerful, indeed... But, you only remained a witch for a few minutes before putting your spell back on. If I had anything to worry about, you would have remained in your normal form for much longer. I do have to remind you to keep your promise and never use your magic," Death explained as he loomed closer until he towered over her, "I did not bring you here to start a quick process of allowing witches into my academy. You are simply here for a trial basis and you have showed much progress over the years, don't slip up and fail me now."

She kept her gaze averted as she listened to his words. Katya then nodded before looking up at him, "I apologize, Lord Death. It won't happen again."

Meanwhile, the others sat in the classroom as Dr. Stein dissected yet another rare creature to see what lay inside it's organs. Soul, growing disgusted of the lessons, brought out his own reading material that he brought from his home. He looked over at Black Star to see that his friend was already sleeping. Usually, Black Star waited until at least a little after the halfway point of their class time. Soul pulled out a small coin from his pocket and flicked it into the air and hit Black Star's forehead. Instantly Black Star jerked awake and sluggishly leaned forward to peer down at Soul with an annoyed look, "Class isn't even over yet, what?"

"I'm sick of this class, ditch with me," Soul whispered, fearing Maka would hear him.

This woke Black Star right up as he looked at the clock and then at the door. Dr. Stein knew them well enough to know that if they left, they wouldn't come back. Black Star nudged Tsubaki's elbow slightly, "Hey, help me get out of class."

"But what if-"

"Will you help me or not?" Black Star rushed her, causing her to look away and nod slightly, "Alright, just follow my lead."

Dr. Stein made another incision in the intestinal tract before he heard Tsubaki shriek in terror. He glanced up to see her holding Black Star's lifeless body as his face was a pale shade of green, "What is it now, Tsubaki?"

"Black Star fainted! I think he needs to go to the nurse!" Tsubaki quickly stated as she did her best to keep him off the floor.

Dr. Stein fixed his glasses for a second before shrugging, "Alright, take him and bring him back when they're done. If anyone else has a weak constitution then-"

He noticed that most of the class was preparing to leave at that point. Dr. Stein then twirled his instrument with his fingers before stabbing the creature's throat. This caused most of the students to sit back down as Dr. Stein stated, "The first five, after Tsubaki, that make it to the door can go. After that, the rest of you can stay and take closer notes at what i'm doing."

Tsubaki rushed Black Star out of class as Soul, and a few others, made it out as well. As soon as they reached the main doors, Black Star straightened up and began to walk out with Soul. He was about to leave until he heard, "Hey, Black Star..."

He turned to see Tsubaki staring at the floor, "Tsubaki, is something wrong?"

"I was thinking..uhm..maybe we can hang out tonight. Like at a movie or play at the arcade again," she blushed slightly before making eye contact with him.

Soul noticed Black Star hesitate for a second before he gave an apologetic shrug and said, "Sorry, Tsubaki, but I'm going to be training with Katya tonight."

"Oh..ok.. Tell Katya I said 'hi' then," Tsubaki quickly walked back to the classroom, leaving the two boys behind.

Black Star turned and walked back to the main doors with his hands behind his head. Soul walked right besides Black Star, but remained silent. For Soul, it was unexpected that Tsubaki to act like that and ask Black Star on a private get-together when she knew Katya had feelings for Black Star. Then again, he really didn't want to get involved in his friend's private life. Once they were out of the building, Soul asked, "So, what's up with you and that Katya chick?"

"I guess we're dating," Black Star answered as he looked up at the sky, "I like her, but it's like I like the outside of her."

"So you like her body..." Soul smirked as Black Star grinned slightly.

"Her body is nice and all," Black Star put his arms down before glancing over at Soul, "What I mean is-"

"You only like what you can see, but she's not giving you everything about her."

Both Soul and Black Star turned to see Kid had been following them with his hands perfectly, symmetrically behind his back. Along with his normal, black outfit, he wore a full black fadora hat to cover the unsymmetrical lines in his hair. Kid approached his two friends as he stood in between them to be in the perfect alignment, "Quite frankly, it's hardly expected that she would want to."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Black Star's annoyance level grew quickly.

"He means that she's the type of girl who wants to keep a few things about her hidden so you won't see something you won't like. A lot of girls do that, it makes them annoying sometimes," Soul rolled his eyes as they continued to walk into Death city.

The three of them continued to walk through Death City until they found a place to eat at. Deathway was the sub-sandwich place to eat at when Black Star and Soul would skip their class for the day. There weren't many people inside so they could enjoy the AC in the restaurant while eating their favorite subs. While Soul ordered for everyone, Kid prepared a round table with three stools to be evenly separated and made sure the other two knew where to sit. He wanted to place the table and chairs in the correct place in the store, but the manager was already throwing a fit about Black Star going through all the drinks to see which one he liked the most.

Finally, once they were all seated with their own meal, they began to eat. Halway through their subs, Soul asked Black Star, "How's Tsubaki taking everything?"

Black Star took another bite of his sub. Soul remembered what happened and understood Black Star's silence. Tsubaki had turned Black Star down on many occasions and all for the same reason: she wanted to be a Death Sythe and partnered with Lord Death before she would take Black Star in a relationship. After she said that, Soul remembered the numerous times Black Star went on extreme missions to collect more souls, but he barely made a dent in the number of kishin souls before Tsubaki completely denied him. Black Star had been crushed and Soul couldn't even bring him out of that funk before Black Star finally came around to going back to his old self.

That only told Soul that Tsubaki was making this transition hard for Black Star to allow Katya into his life. Even if it's for a few weeks or a few years, Soul could see that Tsubaki wasn't too pleased at Black Star's attempt at another female. Soul dropped the subject before digging into his sandwich when Kid spoke up, "How did you manage to persuade Katya to dating you?"

"I didn't persuade her," Black Star glared over at Kid, though they were friends they still knew what buttons to press to piss the other off, "She came onto me."

"A bold woman, how attractive," Kid mused as he continued to cut his sandwich into perfect, tiny pieces in an orderly fashion, "Of my time knowing you, she seems to be the only attractive female you've managed to catch."

"Alright you two, that's getting old," Soul spoke up, trying to stop the fight while it was still cold.

"Oh yeah? I've had more sexy girlfriends than you've ever had!" Black Star growled as he turned his seat to face Kid, "And what's with this idea that you think I can't get a hot girl? I'm stronger and better looking than you!"

"I hardly believe that 'sexy' would define the past few females that you've managed to date," Kid shrugged before taking a sip of his iced tea, "That fat girl from before wasn't as attractive as you're making her out to be. Also, have you looked in a mirror lately? In honest comparison, i'm a fresh cut while you just woke up in a trashbin somewhere."

"That's it!" Black Star lunged at Kid, but was tackled by Soul to keep them apart as Kid made a few attempts to fight back.

This little scene caused the three of them to be kicked out of the store. Kid and Black Star walked with Soul in between them as they glared the other way. Soul sighed at the uncool day he was having. He wanted to leave class, now he was stuck babysitting two guys that were completely opposite of the other.

As soon as class was over, Astrid was packing not only her materials, but Katya's as well. Maka, Liz, Patti, and Tsubaki stood not too far from the classroom door as they waited for Astrid. She was happy to know that she was getting along with all of them, but where was Katya? Surely Lord Death didn't kick her out... Astrid glumly stared down at the floor as Maka asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm just worried about Katya...that's all," Astrid smiled as she followed her group of friends into the hallway, "She's just..has me worried."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It seems like you and Tsubaki both seem kinda down today," Maka noticed as she glanced from one female to the next, "Is there anything we can do to make it better?"

Astrid looked over to see Tsubaki had looked over at her as well. She didn't know why Tsubaki was down. Her only conclusion was that it was because Katya and Black Star started hanging out every night again. Sometimes they would sleep at one apartment or the other, they never stayed apart at night. Astrid shrugged as she put on a bigger smile, "Lets try and make it a nice day then, even if we're a little down."

Tsubaki smiled as well towards Astrid, "Of course."

The girls left the academy before parting ways, only leaving Astrid and Tsubaki alone at a corner. They faced each other as they kept their gaze away from each other. Astrid then spoke up, "So..uhm..do you know where they're staying tonight?"

"I don't know..." Tsubaki murmured, "If it's not too much to ask, could you ask Katya if I can have a few hours tomorrow to talk to Black Star in private? It's kind of important..."

Astrid then turned her gaze to Tsubaki. She had a bad feeling about what Tsubaki had just said, but it wasn't enough to make her question her new friend. Tsubaki didn't seem like the type to come between a relationship, new or old. As much as Astrid wanted to ask her what she meant, she decided against that idea. Instead, she nodded silently before walking away. She turned back to look over her shoulder at Tsubaki, but she was already gone. Astrid knew Katya wouldn't like the idea of how Tsubaki was handling the situation, but beyond what her meister would do or say was an uncharted area.

The apartment was full of light when Astrid walked into to see the door had been unlocked. Katya and Black Star must've came and left before Astrid made it home. She was glad to have a few hours by herself again, but she honestly missed her meister's companionship. Astrid pulled out leftovers from the night before and began to study the material she had learned that day in class.

Sweat poured down her brow as Katya stood in front of Black Star, who was panting deeply. She watched his chest rise and fall as she felt her own heart beat rapidly. Her mind was silenced at the heat of the moment. If she let her guard down for just a second, Black Star could win this round. Katya slid her right foot forward and quickly raised her right arm to block the kick Black Star had tried to use with his immense speed. It was out of pure luck that she was still standing when it came to sparring Black Star at night when it was harder to see. She had to use her senses more rather than physical capability. Black Star sent her many punches as she managed to block most of them. A few got her, but he wasn't trying to do any damage.

Katya found an opening! She ducked backwards before standing back up and used her own spiritual energy behind a punch she aimed at Black Star's abdomen. At the last second she stopped, and Black Star paused as well when he saw that she found the opening. The pair smirked as they gazed at each other, breathing heavily as the darkness of the night clouded their minds of where they were. Katya stood up as she wiped the sweat off of her brow, "I'm getting better at this."

"It's different when you don't have a weapon to use," Black Star sat in the open pavement of the academy's training stations, "Open some windows...it's hot as Hell in here."

As Katya opened the windows in the training station, a cool breeze wafted in and seemed to settle the two down. Katya sat next to Black Star before laying down on her back. She enjoyed their training at night because it gave them some time alone and not having to hear about what the others think.

"So..what exactly is this?" Katya asked as she gazed up at the ceiling.

"I'unno," Black Star looked away from her.

"That's not typically a good answer..." Katya sat up on her elbows to look over at him.

"How am I supposed to know?" he turned his gaze back to her, "You're the one who's leading this."

"I'm asking you what you want."

"I want something to eat."

"...That's not what I mean."

"Argh!" Black Star grumbled as he popped his neck before rubbing his head, "Girls are confusing... I'd rather have someone kick my ass than try to understand what you're saying and what you actually mean."

Katya sat up straight to turn herself towards Black Star, "What I mean is that I want us to be an actual couple."

Black Star's reaction unsettled Katya. She was used to be quite forward and able to let everyone know what she wanted. However, she grew nervous when she saw Black Star hesitate when she mentioned about being a couple. They've been hanging out almost every single day, and she had been saying they were a couple when mostly they would talk, train, or go on outings with their friends. She had yet to ask him if they were in a relationship or not and had avoided the topic until that moment. Black Star smirked slightly before lowering his chin until his mouth was covered by his shirt collar and closed his eyes. Katya sat in silence as the dread of her statement began to eat at her. Did she say it too soon? Did he not feel the same? Was telling him that she liked him pressuring him into liking her when he possibly didn't? She couldn't take it any longer. Katya then began to stand up. Before she embarressed herself anymore, she needed to leave. Right when she was about to leave, she felt him grab her wrist.

"If you don't feel the same, then you don't need me to stick around like a completely stupid idiot," Katya stated as she kept her back turned to him.

His grasp slid down her wrist before intertwining his fingers with hers. Katya smiled to herself as she kept her back turned to Black Star. He didn't need to say anything. In that moment, she knew what his answer was and couldn't be more happy about it.

It was around midnight when Katya returned home by herself. She was content with her new relationship with Black Star and was looking forward to telling Astrid. When she walked into her apartment, she saw Astrid sleeping on the kitchen table with a pile of books beneath her. A small frown formed on Katya's lips when she saw this. She walked slipped off her shoes by the front door and tip-toed over to Astrid. Gently tapping on Astrid's shoulder, Katya whispered, "Time for bed, Astrid. Lets go to sleep."

Astrid slowly opened her eyes to see Katya. She gave a sleepy smile at the surprise before nodding her head and following Katya to their bedroom. Katya helped Astrid into their bed before climbing in. As they laid in bed, Katya watched as Astrid quickly fell back asleep. She decided that her friend would hear her news in the morning. As her thoughts went to Black Star, Katya kept a pleased smile as she soon fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Black Star quietly entered his own apartment. He didn't want to wake Tsubaki nor did he want to go to bed hungry. Apart of him had hoped Katya would've invited him over for something to eat, but she never asked and he wouldn't be the one to say something either. If she were Maka or any other girl, then he would've just invited himself over. Black Star snuck into the kitchen and opened the fridge to find that Tsubaki had made him a large dish of his favorite foods. He greedily snatched the plate and waited it to heat up in the microwave. As soon as the time was up, Black Star retrieved his plate of food and turned to come face-to-face with Tsubaki. He sucked in a breath from surprise before noticing the small dress she wore, "Tsubaki!...What are you doing up this late? Did I wake you?"

"I've been waiting for you to come home," Tsubaki greeted him with a smile as she bowed lightly, "I was worried you would be out too late again and be late to class."

Black Star strictly kept his eyesight on her face though it was torture not to look. He forced himself to look away as he walked passed her so he could eat the dinner she had prepared, "Uhm, I'll go to sleep soon after I eat. Katya and I trained really hard tonight."

"You train really hard every time you train," Tsubaki mused as she followed him into the living room.

As much as he wanted to turn around and look at Tsubaki's body, Black Star remained diligent and only thought of going to bed. He was about to walk away until he felt Tsubaki approach him more. It didn't take a genius to know she was right behind him. As an assassin, he could hear her breathe, he could feel her body heat, and he could sense the small distance away from each other.

"I miss when it was just you and I," he heard her murmur.

This sent Black Star on the edge. His surprised features then turned to that of dismay. He carefully put the plate of food on the table before walking to his room in silence. Tsubaki remained standing where she was and kept still. She knew this wasn't like her at all, but she couldn't help feeling as if she were losing something she had cast aside long ago.


	3. Chapter 3

Class started on time as usual. Dr. Stein sat on the teacher's desk as he waited for the remaining students to enter the class. He noticed Black Star made it on time for the third week in a row. Though this was more than pleasing, Dr. Stein knew better than to think that Black Star was coming to class because I wanted to learn something. Following Black Star's gaze, Stein then saw the reason why Black Star arrived on time. Katya Osaki, the blood-lust student who was rumored to have the ability to know an infinite amount of torture methods and murderous deeds. So far, she seemed relatively normal and obedient. Then again, Stein concluded he had yet to see her in a life or death battle.

Right before he was going to start class, a note appeared on his desk. Stein examined the note and stated, "Alright, settle down and prepare for a pop quiz on the anatomical structure of the process of a human to kishin soul process. Katya Osaki, Dr. Medusa would like to see you at her office. Come straight back when you're finished, is that understood?"

Katya shrugged as she stood and left the classroom. Though she was fond of leaving early, it was starting to make her look bad to the other classmates. She wandered through the halls until she found Medusa's office and knocked on the door. Everytime she saw the school's nurse, Medusa always gave her the same feeling: nausea. Something about that woman just made her skin crawl as if tiny bugs were trying to enter her skin. Katya felt the same nausea as Medusa answered the door, "Dr. Stein said you wanted to see me?"

"That's right," Medusa smiled and allowed Katya in, "Make yourself comfortable."

Her office was like any other school's nurse office. It had positive posters everywhere with over-used statements, little anatomical pictures, no smoking or drug-use signs, etc. What made Medusa's office a little different was her entire bookcase of herbal remedies and old texts full of old information that Katya really didn't want to read. In truth, these were the same books she had at her family home before Lord Death destroyed everything of her house and family. Katya then felt a tug on her soul before glancing to her side to see Medusa staring back at her with a slight smile. If she hadn't eaten early that morning, Katya would've gotten sick from being in the same room as Medusa. She watched as the school's nurse walked over to her desk and sat behind the large, mohagony desk and gestured Katya to sit in front of her.

Katya obliged and sat quietly as she leaned back in her seat, "Is something the matter? I haven't needed any medical attention since my back injury a few weeks ago and i'm doing better than ever."

"How long have you been keeping your secret?" Medusa placed her elbows on the desk and rested her head on the back of her hands.

A wave of fear went through Katya as she realized what Medusa meant. How did this woman know? Katya gulped slightly before crossing her arms, "What secret?"

"You don't have to hide it from me," Medusa smiled slightly more, "You see, you and I have the same secret."

The fear went away. Medusa was a witch too? Katya felt more relief at the thought that she wasn't the only witch hiding in the DWMA. She took a deep breath to relax herself, "You have no idea how much that really helps actually. I swore to Lord Death that I would never use my magic or tell anyone here that i'm a witch, but it's actually harder than it is. It's easier to fight kishins when I can use my magic and it's a Hell of a lot nicer to fly on my broom than have to walk everywhere or-"

"I get what you're saying," Medusa leaned in closer towards Katya, "I only want to ask one question: why are you not angry at Lord Death? He killed your entire family, wiped out all memory of their existance and only left the villagers that catered to your family."

"At first, I was," Katya looked out the window to see Death City, "But I was so young, just a toddler when Lord Death took me in. He thought I wouldn't remember anything, but he doesn't understand witches at all. We're born with a sense of knowledge as soon as we enter this world and we see and know things that mere humans wouldn't until they were much older. I was angry for a few years before I understood I could be stronger than a regular witch if I remain here."

"Could you fight Death and not fear him?" Medusa's eyes narrowed on Katya.

Katya turned her eyes to look at Medusa. She was wary about that question and didn't know how to answer it correctly. After taking a short breath, Katya answered, "No one can beat Death, it's only inevitable that they'll lose. And yes, I do fear him."

That's when the curtains were drawn on their own to close any outside source. Medusa's eyes narrowed as Katya tensed at what was happening around her. She watched as Medusa stood as her features went back to normal before heading to the bookcase. Her fingers traced a few spines before finding an old text and pulled it out gently. Medusa went back to Katya, softly placed the book on the desk in front of Katya before saying, "You may want to read this book. I sensed your soul the other night and I believe you are quite capable of performing these spells. If you're willing to work with me, then i'll be happy to give you this book as a gift of gratitude."

The cover was worn to pieces, but the title was quite clear, "A Resurrection from Same Blood". Katya didn't have to ask what it was about. She could give life back to her family. Her eyes went from the book to Medusa as she contemplated the offer. Medusa shrugged as she took the book back to place it back on the shelf, "If not for you, but for that little boyfriend of yours. Both of you have no family to call your own. Then again, you still have a village that worships you and the ground you walk on. He doesn't have anything but a curse on his name. If he could at least have one family member to rely on, i'm sure he would be happier."

Guilt wrapped around Katya as she felt the urgency to grab the old text. She stopped herself as Medusa's back was still turned to her. Composing herself, Katya stood up as Medusa halfway turned towards her, "Dr. Medusa, I will think about your proposition. However, i'd like for you to keep my secret. If Lord Death knew about this conversation, he'll hunt me down."

Medusa put her hands up slightly as she smiled, "I won't say a word if you don't."

This gave Katya slight relief as she kept her eyes on the old text. She looked back at Medusa before taking a few steps for the office door, "Then to anyone else this conversation didn't exist."

Everyone was over at Maka's and Soul's apartment for a small get-together. Maka picked at her food as she lingered with Liz and Patti in the corner as Kid tried to alphabatize Soul's records. She glanced over to see Katya and Black Star talking. Of course, she felt that it was perfectly fine, but she noticed that Tsubaki and Astrid also not too far off as they kept looking at their meisters. Maka seemed confused, she had thought the problem had been resolved already. She turned to Liz and asked, "Do you know what's going on with those four over there?"

Liz looked over for a few moments before answering, "Tsubaki is a bit jealous that Black Star doesn't want to hang out with her all the time now that Katya's in the picture. As for Astrid, I think she's not used to having Katya away more often now. We should hang out more with Astrid and show her that Katya isn't her only friend here."

Maka was now surprised that Liz was actually capable of knowing what was going on and a solution when she hadn't been part of the group for long. Liz laughed slightly as she smirked, "Gir's intuition, this isn't the first time i've seen anything like that."

"Then what about Tsubaki? What can we do for her to make this easier?" Maka asked before taking a bite of food off of her plate.

"She has to do this on her own," Liz shrugged before looking back at Tsubaki, "Either she steps up and gets him back or forgets it all together."

Maka paused before taking another bite from her food. She was somewhat upset that this may break up a friendship in the end. Liz patted Maka's shoulder, "These things usually work themselves out. Best not to get involved early one. If the worst comes and Tsubaki takes Black Star back, don't be surprised if Katya stops hanging out with us."

This had to stop. Maka walked to the kitchen to put her food down and turned to see Soul approaching the kitchen as well, "I think we need to talk."

"Is everything alright? There's enough food for everyone isn't there?" Maka asked.

"It's not that, I know what you're gonna do," Soul shrugged as he lowered his voice so the music would hide what he was saying to her so they others wouldn't hear, "You can't go into our friends' problems."

"But if no one says anything, then we may lose some friends," Maka commented as she gestured towards Katya and Astrid.

"They'll still be our friends," Soul turned to glance over at the others, "If Black Star and Katya want to stay together, they will. They're alike like that. You know they'll do their best to please others, but if someone tries to compromise what they have they'll do something about it."

"What if they go about it the wrong way and hurt someones feelings?" Maka crossed her arms over her chest, "They need a third party to help them out."

"How about you stick with your own problem before you barge into theirs," Soul blocked Maka's path.

"What problem? I don't have a problem," Maka looked away with a stubborn look on her features.

Soul moved closer to her until they were barely inches apart. His warm breath caressed her skin lightly as he murmured, "You haven't given me an answer yet. You haven't talked to me like you used to and you're avoiding me when we're alone together."

Maka kept quiet as she tried to find a way to leave the kitchen. She felt his fingers tug on her skirt to move towards him as her eyes darted to the others to see if they were noticing what was going on. As much as she enjoyed the attention by Soul, she still felt more confusion as to how to react. Soul then whispered, "If it's about what your dad did.."

This brought Maka enough courage to pull away and fix her skirt, "This has nothing to do with my Papa. I'm going back to the party."

After the party, Katya and Black Star headed back to her apartment as Astrid trailed behind. As she spoke with Black Star the entire time she was at the part, she had also given Medusa's offer some thought. She had never asked Black Star about his feelings for being taken in by Lord Death as an infant. Katya kept her gaze straight ahead as she asked, "Do you ever think about your family?"

"Sometimes," he answered casually, "It would've been nice to know them. Things could've turned out differently if they were still alive. What about you?"

Katya didn't answer, and Astrid lowered her gaze. While her father's side of the family were thieves and murderers, trained assassins and all, her mother's side held the witch's blood within her. If she had grown up within her family to harness her abilities and powers, she would've came out a different person than she was today. Her thoughts then went to the old text Medusa somehow kept in her office to restore life to the dead. She could give Black Star the chance to redeem his family name and make him happy.

"It's ok if you don't want to tell me now," Black Star commented as he looked over at Katya, "It's not like i'll hate you or anything if you don't."

Katya glanced up to see they were back at her apartment. Astrid took a few steps forward ahead of the two, then turned back to smile at them, "How about I make us a light dinner?"

"Awesome! I'm starving!" Black Star raced up the steps to the front door.

"You just ate at the party..." Katya commented dryly, then stood up straight, "I'll be back in a minute, I have to go run an errand."

"What?" Black Star turned around and leaned over the balcony, "Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back," Katya quickly dashed off.

Astrid looked at Katya's trail before turning back to Black Star, "It must be important if she's leaving you here like this."

Black Star barely knew Astrid, but he could sense the distaste in her voice even when she smiled at him. He followed her inside even though he could tell she didnt wan't him there.

Katya found it easy to get into the academy when the doors were locked. She could sense that Medusa was still in the building. What she also knew was that she was being watched. It didn't sit right with her, but she pushed that thought aside and thought of only the text that could bring back Black Star's family from the grave. Katya was quick with her footing when she avoided any security methods used to keep students out of the academy at night. She finally made it to Medusa's office where she eased the door open and silently crept it shut. No one was in the office, but Medusa had to be somewhere. Katya went over to the bookshelf and found the textbook that she needed. If she could get away with taking the old book and not doing Medusa a favor would be the ideal situation. However, Katya turned around to come face-to-face with Medusa, who held a smirk on her lips, "So, you've made your decision?"

She hesitated for a moment before answering, "I'll agree to it."

"Good," Medusa took a step back, "Meet me on the outskirts of the desert tomorrow night at midnight. There are some friends of mine i'd like you to meet."

"Are they-"

"They are our kind as well. We can trust them," Medusa smiled as her gaze dulled, "You remind me of when I was a new witch so many years ago. It surprises me that I once had your eyes."

Katya felt uncomfortable around Medusa and held the book closer to her. Medusa chuckled slightly before gesturing towards the door, "Get a good night's sleep. I'll be waiting for you tomorrow night."

Leaving the academy never felt better than that moment when Katya took her first step outside. She held onto the text as if it meant losing her life if she let go. When she returned to her apartment, Katya snuck in from the front door to see Black Star sleeping on the couch. Astrid must've already went to bed, which meant that she would sleep in the living room with Black Star that night. Katya quietly placed the book at the top of her kitchen's shelf to keep the others away from it.

"Where'd you go?"

Startled, Katya fumbled and dropped the book to the counter. She turned around quickly to see Black Star stretching and then relaxing on the couch. If she were terrified if he saw the book or not, she would've admired his physical attraction. Katya kept the book hidden behind her back, "I went to pick up a book from a friend of Astrid's."

She became even more nervous when she watched him stand up. Was he going to check for himself what the book was? All her anxieties went away when he went towards the gaming station on the floor in front of the television. Black Star held up the second controller towards her as he set up one of the boxing games he had brought over a few days ago, "While you're in the kitchen, how about making something to eat?"

"Astrid just made you dinner... And if you're so damn hungry then making something to eat yourself!" Katya tossed the book on the highest shelf as Black Star smirked as the game started.

Katya sat down next to Black Star as he became more engrossed with the game. She wondered what Medusa would want her to do, but it didn't matter. Black Star would be even more happy with her now that she would be able to bring his family back for him...

Astrid took down her notes right before class was to start. Katya wasn't home that morning when she woke up. Even Black Star didn't know where she had gone to. This made her worry for her meister. Not only was she becoming distant with her own weapon, but she wasn't even telling Black Star where she was at. Astrid paused from her note taking as she tried to sense where her meister could be at. With her Soul Protection spell always on, it was harder for Astrid to keep in tabs with Katya's soul.

"Katya skipped again? Damn...she's starting to look cooler than me..."

She looked up from her notes to see Soul was sitting in the row beneath her. He glanced up as he leaned back in his seat, "Why aren't you out with her?"

"Oh...ugh..." Astrid blushed slightly as she tried to find the right words.

"Leave her alone, Soul," Maka walked towards Soul, then smiled up at Astrid, "Sorry, Astrid. Soul forgets his manners sometimes."

"It's ok," Astrid's blush disappeared, she glanced over to see Black Star already gazing up at the clock while Tsubaki tried getting his attention.

All through class, Astrid couldn't pay attention. She felt sick to her stomach as she thought what Katya might be doing. Knowing her meister, she was getting herself into trouble somewhere. That trouble could range to be anything. The only relief Astrid gave herself wast hat Katya would still need to use her as a weapon. After class was over for the day, Astrid was one of the first to leave and almost made it out without talking to anyone until she bumped into Black Star. He smiled that toothy, dumb smile that she was starting to loathe, "Oh..hey, Black Star."

"I'm going to join you today," he pointed to himself, "Just in case you need my help with anything."

"That's very kind of you, but-"

"I insist," Black Star snatched her books and began walking towards her apartment.

Astrid sighed with much annoyance as she followed Black Star all the way back to the apartment. She really didn't want to spend much time with him knowing he only wanted to see if Katya was back at the apartment as well. But, she didn't want to make him angry and obliged to the offer. When they reached the apartment, Astrid walked in with hope that Katya was there...only to be disappointed when she wasn't. This wasn't like Katya at all.

Black Star watched as Astrid went to her bedroom, saying she needed to study in privacy. Interestingly enough, he sat her textbooks and notebooks on the living room table without her even bothering to get them. He was getting worried that Katya was up to something and not saying anything to him. She was quiet when he asked about her family when she had asked him the same question before. Something wasn't right. Then, he recalled a book she had hid right when he woke from his short nap. He went to the kitchen and climbed onto the counter to reach the highest point of the kitchen's shelf. His fingers skimmed the dusty wood until he came across a leather texture. Picking up the old book, Black Star looked around to make sure he was alone before reading the cover. His eyes widened... What was this book?

There were symbols and pictures he had never seen before. He could easily read the textbook, but...nothing made sense. Then, he understood... This was a spell book. Why would Katya have a spell book? Black Star was about to go to Astrid to ask, but stopped himself. Maybe she would think he would accuse Katya of being a witch and kick him out for good. Instead, Black Star decided to find out for himself what this book was and what witch was trying to trick Katya.

Black Star tucked the book under his arm before leaving the apartment. He had to find the others to see what they thought before going to Lord Death himself. The first place he went to was Soul's. Black Star pounded on the door before Maka finally opened the door, "Have you gone crazy! What the hell is the problem!"

He shoved the book in Maka's arms and stated, "Something's wrong with Katya. I found this at her place."

Maka opened the book and skimmed a few pages. Her features became grave as she quickly realized what this book was. She looked up at Black Star as Soul rounded the corner to see Black Star at the door. Maka then asked, "You do know what this is, right?"

"It's a witch book," Black Star answered, then balled his hands to fists, "Katya isn't a witch."

"How can we be so sure when-"

"I said she's not a god damn witch!" Black Star raised his voice as he glared at Maka, "Say it again and i'll kick your ass!"

"Alright, Black Star," Soul intervened, "I know you're upset, but this isn't the time to get in a fight. We'll take the book down to Lord Death and see what he thinks. No one thinks Katya is a witch."

"Right," Maka agreed, then turned to Black Star, "Go get Tsubaki and meet us at Lord Death."

Black Star followed Maka and Soul to Lord Death's occupancy. He didn't want to get Tsubaki involved. They ran through the long path that led to Lord Death, who stood as if he was waiting for them to enter. Besides Lord Death was Kid, Liz, and Patti. Maka was the first to reach Lord Death and held out the old book, "Lord Death, Black Star found this book in Katya's apartment. We think that a witch is manipulating her with it."

Lord Death grumbled something as he retrieved the book and eyed it. Kid looked over, his eyes widening at the title of the book. Black Star held his breath as he worried that Lord Death would think Katya was a witch. He was worried about why she would want to use a book like that when she seemed perfectly fine whenever he saw her. Death then put the book behind his back and stated, "Spirit."

"Yes?" Spirit appeared from behind the group of students.

"Get Stein and find Katya. There's a witch problem somewhere in the city," Lord Death explained, then he turned to the others, "All of you, go home. I will summon you all again when Katya has returned and my decision is made."

"But-" Black Star took a step forward.

"Black Star, you will stay at Katya's home if she comes back there. If she does, please bring her straight to me," Lord Death stated.

As promised, midnight loomed closer and Katya stood in front of Medusa and two other people. The other woman was most definitely a witch while the other, a man, seemed like a mixture of everything. Medusa stood with her arms crossed as she smirked over at Katya, "Glad you made it. This is Eruka and Free. They'll be our eyes and ears while you and I go to the basement to make a few adjustments."

"Eyes and ears for what? What exactly am I doing?" Katya placed a hand on her hip.

"You didn't tell her..." Eruka questioned as she glanced over at Medusa, "I thought you said she was strong."

"You'll see," Medusa narrowed her eyes on Eruka, "I'm sure the Grand Witch would even have a hard time beating this one."

Eruka's eyes widened slightly as she turned her gaze over to Katya, looking her up and down with slight fear in her eyes. Katya scoffed as she became a little irritated that these witches knew something that she didn't. She then asked, "Well? What the hell am I doing?"

"I'll explain when we get to the basement. Free, Eruka, don't make any movements until I let out the signal," Medusa stated as they nodded obediently.

Medusa then walked over to Katya and placed a hand on her shoulder, "When this is all finished, you'll be able to use your magic with all the freedom from fear."

Katya wanted to say something, but remained silent. Whatever Medusa was planning obviously didn't make sense to her. Then again, did it matter at that point? She had what she wanted and all she needed to do was one task for Medusa to complete their deal. So, Katya followed Medusa back to the academy where they went down to the basement...

Astrid woke from her sound sleep. She could feel Katya. Rolling out of her bed, she fell to the floor before throwing on her clothes and rushing out the door. She made a note that Black Star was already gone. Oh well, Katya threw the front door open and rushed down the stairs towards the academy. Not very physically fit, it took her some time to run to the academy. Astrid stopped for a second to pant until she forced herself to keep going. Something was far from right, why was Katya in the academy at night? She followed Katya's soul wave until she made it to the basement. Her eyes looked this way and that to find her meister, but each hallway and staircase she took only led her deeper into the basement.

Then, Astrid heard voices. She covered her mouth as she stopped at the corner of a hallway to hear footsteps walking away from her. That was Katya's voice... Who was with her? Astrid silently peeked from behind the wall to see a woman dressed in all black with snake-like tattoos on her back and arms. She watched as they walked towards a pair of large, wooden doors. She looked closer to see a seal that blocked any entry into the door. Astrid listened closely as she heard the other woman say that she couldn't open the door with that seal blocking her magic and that Katya would have the ability. She heard Katya say that she couldn't use her magic because of the Soul Protection spell, only to have the woman say that she would need to release the spell.

"Katya!" Astrid rounded the corner, "Don't do it!"

Both Katya and Medusa turned to see Astrid running towards them. Katya glanced over at Medusa to see the look of death in her eyes as she glared over at their intruder. The tattoo on Medusa's arm moved and left her skin to form a shadow-like snake. She put her arm in between Medusa and Astrid, "No, don't kill her."

"She will compromise our mission," Medusa hissed towards Katya.

"She's my weapon," Katya stated as she narrowed her gaze on Medusa, "Kill her, and i'll kill you."

Astrid made it to Katya and smacked her hard across her cheek, "What are you doing! We're not allowed down this far in the basement for a reason! If Lord Death caught us down here-"

"You don't know why i'm down here," Katya answered calmly as she held her cheek where Astrid had slapped her, "You don't know why i'm doing this."

"Then why? You never tell me anything anymore!" Astrid finally let her feelings out, "You never tell anyone anything and i'm sick of it! You always think no one will understand, but you're wrong!"

"Our time is running short. Open the seal so we can awake the kishin," Medusa stated angrily over towards Katya.

"Awake..the kishin?" Katya's eyes widened, "Wait a minute, is that why we're down here?"

"You want to stop hiding from being a witch, right? You got what you wanted from me, now you can fulfill your part of the deal," Medusa snatched Katya's wrist, "Now open that seal or i'll tear you apart and find myself someone who keeps their promise."

A moment passed as Katya glared at Medusa. Katya's lips slowly formed a wide smirk as a barrier formed over her and Astrid as her soul became more powerful in a split second. Astrid's eyes widened, but she seemed confused. She didn't sense Katya's witch soul... Katya then murmured, "Astrid, become my weapon."

Astrid looked over at Katya, then smirked as well as she nodded. She turned into her weapon form as Katya gripped her war-axe once again as Medusa took a step back, "You bitch..."

"Our deal is off. I won't revive any kishin," Katya swung her war-axe with ease above her head, "You better run while I'm still in a good mood."

Medusa laughed at Katya getting in her fighting stance as she released her Soul Protection. Katya flinched slightly at how strong Medusa really was, but prepared for a tough fight. She readied Astrid as she glared at Medusa as she felt hate, anger, and insane rage rush through her blood. Her eyes scanned Medusa's black blood with confusion. Katya could sense immense power from this witch, but if she wanted to live and keep Death City safe from a kishin...she would have to fight back with everything she had before using her own magic to fight back. Medusa smirked as black arrows sprouted from all through her body around her, "Well, use your magic. Make this fun for me before I kill you."

"I'll tear you limb from limb!" Katya shouted as she ran towards Medusa.

The arrows surrounded her. Katya swung her axe to slice them before they stabbed her, but there were more arrows coming straight for her. She leaped back as she sprouted her spirit hawk-wings from her back to block a rain of arrows from the front and behind. Then, a large arrow formed beneath her feet that sent her flying towards Medusa. Katya swung her axe to cut Medusa, but that witch moved at the last second and Katya smashed against the stone wall. She rolled away from her landing spot as a series of arrows stabbed the area she was just at a moment ago. Leaping to her feet, Katya ran before another wave of arrows came for her. Katya cursed angrily, she couldn't keep running or else she'll tire herself out even faster.

If she was going to die that night, she would have to kill Medusa as well. Katya spun on her heel and ran straight for Medusa. Astrid watched in fear and quickly asked, "_What are you doing! You're going to get killed_!"

"Astrid," Katya swung her axe back, "Don't ever forget about me."

The arrows rushed passed her as Katya did her best to dodge them. Some cut her, some went through her skin, and others luckly passed by without a scratch. An arrow went through her upper right arm, cutting her radius in half. Katya screamed in pain, but kept on running and forcing her arm to stay up just a little longer. She was then close enough to slice Medusa in half. Her eyes widened as Medusa easily dodged her attack with ease. Katya hadn't intended for Medusa to move so swiftly... The pain of her arm shot through her shoulder and upper body as she knelt down on one knee. Some of the arrows had pierced through her legs, causing blood loss to become a problem.

"This is the end for you," Medusa mused as Katya turned her head over her shoulder.

"_Katya!"_ Astrid screamed as a sworm of arrows rushed towards Katya.

Katya tossed the war-axe to the side as she used her spirit wings to block most of the arrows. The arrows easily stabbed through her wings. Astrid transformed into her human form and watched in horror as Katya's body became limp as Medusa's retracted her arrows. She rushed to Katya's side as Medusa recoiled her arrows and peered over at Astrid, "Such a pity."

"Don't come any closer!" Astrid protectively held Katya's body in her arms, "I'm warning you!"

Medusa readied more of her arrows as Astrid' used her right arm to turn into the axe-blade to protect herself and Katya. The arrows flew towards them rapidly that Astrid wasn't prepared for how hard they would hit her. She managed to deflect most of the arrows, but most of them pierced her skin on the sides. Astrid lowered her axe-blade to glare at Medusa who was preparing another onslaught. A wave of peace rushed through her as she saw the inevitable. Tears formed in her eyes as she had her arm turn back to normal as she gripped Katya's body to her. If this was their fate, then she would accept her fate and see Lord Death in the afterworld with Katya.

Astrid waited for the pain to set in, but it never came. She opened her eyes to see a pair of legs in front of her facing Medusa. Her gaze trailed up to see Dr. Stein weilding a weird looking sythe in his grasp. Did he have a partner? He turned his head to look down on her, "It's ok now, you're going to be fine."

While Stein took on Medusa on his own, she could feel Astrid's grasp around her body. Wasn't she dead? It felt as if those arrows stabbed right through her, but they pierced her soul more than her body. The blood being emitted from her told her otherwise. Katya stirred slightly as she lifted her head somewhat and saw the battle that was going on. This was all her cause, wasn't it? She watched as Stein fought her battle as Medusa merely played with him. She pulled herself from Astrid's hold on her as her friend tried to stop her from doing so. Instead, Katya pulled Astrid's ear close to her and whispered, "Transform."

"I will not," Astrid stated, "You're in no condition to fight and-"

"Thats..." Katya winced as pain stabbed throughout her body, "That's...and order..from your meister.."

Astrid's tears flowed down her cheeks as her gaze softened on Katya, "Why are you doing this? You can't possibly beat her now. Just stop. I don't know why you did this or why you want to fight her more, but I can't let you do this to yourself any longer."

Katya forced herself to balance herself on her knees as she kept a hold on Astrid's wrist. She then tugged on Astrid's arm softly and murmured again, "Transform."

She could never convince Katya before and it was useless now. Astrid closed her eyes as she gave into Katya's order. Katya held Astrid weakly in her grasp as she waited for the right chance to strike. Then, Medusa landed in front of the large, wooden door with her back turned to Katya. It was her time. Katya used the last of her energy to rush forward, her axe readied over her shoulder, and prepared to finally kill Medusa before she caused anymore harm. Medusa turned at the last second as Stein was ready to slice her from the other side. The witch leaped above as Stein caught her movements and swung her across the hall as Katya finished her slice on the wooden door, ripping the seal to shreds.

What had she done? Katya fell to her knees as she tried to understand what happened. She turned to see Medusa's evil smile as Stein's eyes were wide with shock. Medusa then disappeared down the corridor as Stein and Katya remained silent. Astrid transformed back into her human form and checked Katya for any fatal wounds. Katya shoved Astrid away from her and screamed angrily, punching the ground several times. She was angry that she missed killing Medusa and, in the end, fulfilled her part of the deal.

Katya silenced her scream when she turned to see Stein towering over her. He reached down and roughly yanked her to her feet to ask sharply, "Why was there a spell book in your home?"

"Medusa gave it to me," Katya growled, his grip on her arm was tight when she was already in pain.

"You were going to use magic in Death City when you know it's forbidden," Stein tightened his grip on her, "You were going to use magic against someone."

"No!" Katya yelled as she struggled to be free, but failed, "I wasn't going to use it against anyone!"

"Let her go!" Astrid tried to shove Stein away from Katya.

"Stein."

A hand rested on Stein's shoulder that signaled him to stop. Stein growled beneath his breath before letting Katya go. Spirit recoiled his hand to put in his pockets as he stood in front of both Katya and Astrid, "Lord Death wishes to see you, Katya. Astrid, you will be escorted back to your home."

"No," Astrid held onto Katya's arm, "I'm staying."

"Just let her stay," Katya sighed as she felt her legs buckle beneath her.

Blood leaked out of her body as her vision began to fade. The last visual Katya had was gazing at the ceiling, her last thought of what might happen to her...

She woke in a hospital bed. The room was completely empty save for the only door that led to anywhere. Katya remained still as she felt Lord Death not too far from her, "So..am I in any trouble?"

Lord Death appeared next to her bedside and peered down at her, "I want to know why you had that book in your posession. What were you planning on doing?"

Katya didn't say anything for a few moments before answering, "Nothing."

"You weren't planning on bringing life to the dead?" he asked, she could tell he was fishing for answers.

"No," Katya answered.

"Then why did you have the book in the first place if you didn't plan on performing any of the spells within it?"

"Medusa gave it to me. I wasn't planning on using or keeping it," Katya turned onto her side away from Death, "What is my punishment? Are you going to kill me?"

Lord Death took a few steps away from Katya and sighed loudly. Katya held her breath as she tried to figure out what was to become of her. Then, he spoke, "Because you did not use the book, you did not use your magic, and you never revealed to the others of your capabilities, I cannot kill you. However, you will be supervised for sometime when you go out on missions and leave the city."

With that said, Lord Death left the room. Katya felt relief enter her system as she thought of the only other punishment Death could've brought upon her: death. Using magic was completely different from completing a plan with a witch. She remained still on her side as she released a long sigh of relief. Katya closed her eyes and kept them closed even as she heard the door open again. It must've been Astrid, but Katya couldn't tell because the other person's soul wavelength was different. The person sat down on the bed with her. They made no attempt to talk to her at that moment and Katya didn't want to be the first person to say something.

"Tell me the truth.."

Black Star. Katya's body became rigid with tense as she knew what he wanted to know. Her eyes opened softly as she contemplated her answer. It was the only lie she would ever tell him.

"No, i'm not."

She could hear the stress leave his body through a deep exhale. He left the bed and walked to the other side where he could face her. Katya looked up at him with her deep, amber eyes as she saw the worry in his gaze. How did he find out? Death or someone must've said something to him about the book. She decided not to tell Black Star why she had that book to begin with and wouldn't lie to him even further about it. Katya sat up, revealing most of her body was bandaged from her chest down to her lower torso. She saw the shock in Black Star's eyes as he saw how damaged she was from fighting Medusa. To lighten the tension in the room, Katya smirked, "I think i've outshined you for once. I guess i'm the big star now."

Katya went still once more. Black Star gently held her shoulders and pressed his lips against hers. The sudden warmth made her feel an emotion she hadn't felt before. She eased into his kiss as her own tension left her body. Silence wafted through the room as the two kissed. Katya swore that she would never forget that moment. Black Star was the first to pull away and whisper to her, "I'll be glad to share the stage with you."


	4. Chapter 4

"Beach, beach, beach, beach, beach, beach, beach-"

"We're almost there, chill the fuck out."

"Why did we have to go so early?"

"Because Astrid woke me up early so I made sure to wake your ass up early too."

"...that's not far..."

"Tsubaki, help me out here."

Black Star, Katya, Astrid, and Tsubaki were one of the few that were arriving to the beach in the morning while the others were still getting ready. Katya made note that Tsubaki hadn't answered her and Black Star was still chomping on a sandwich Katya had made him earlier. Astrid checked the basket full of items several times to make sure everything was still there. It was a month before exams and the group wanted to spend a day at the beach to relax before studying for the exams. Truthfully, it was Soul's idea and Maka had been against it. Katya had a smile on her face, she was glad that they were finally able to go to the beach.

They reached the beach just as the weather was getting warmer and the wind was slowly picking up. Astrid and Tsubaki started to spread the blanket and towels out as Katya and Black Star picked up their surf boards and ran into the ocean. Tsubaki and Astrid watched the two when they finished. Katya and Black Star weren't too far out in the ocean, but far enough to where they couldn't hear their weapons. Astrid didn't turn to Tsubaki, but asked, "Black Star didn't do anything, has he?"

Tsubaki slowly shook her head, "I can't say I didn't try."

"Then it's settled," Astrid sighed as she glanced over at Tsubaki, "They're not going to be apart for awhile."

"Astrid," Tsubaki kept her gaze on Black Star in the distance, "I don't want us to plot against them anymore. Black Star is happy... As long as he's happy, then so am I."

Astrid turned her eyes back to her friend and Black Star. She had felt such guilt for trying to split them apart, only to have her plans fail each and every time. The heat was starting to pick up and their other friends began to show up not too long after. Astrid hung out with Maka on the side, discussing what may or may not be on the exams. Tsubaki, Liz, and Patti built sandcastles near the water. Soul soaked up the sun while Kid followed Black Star and Katya in the water. Soul had brought a radio and played the music loud for everyone.

Katya sat on her surf board as she watched Black Star take a somewhat large wave while standing on his hands. Though she was impressed, a part of her was thinking how much of a risk he was taking. When he crashed in the sand, doing a few rolls when he fell off of his board, she laughed nervously before he jumped back up and came back into the water. Kid, dressed in his usual attire instead of a bathing suit, stood on his skateboard, Beelzebub, and stood next to Katya as she sat, "That was almost comical."

"It was a tough wave to ride," Katya shrugged as she watched Black Star, "He did ok."

Kid looked to his side and saw a larger wave starting to form. A smirk formed on his lips, "Oh yeah? Well, watch this and see if this is 'ok'."

Using his skateboard as a surf board, Kid skimmed the side of the wave as it grew larger and larger. Kid easily rode the wave all the way until it began to crash on one side. When he finished, he flipped into the air and landed just above the water. He imagined Katya would be cheering and impressed with his moves, but he looked over to see her smiling and chatting with Black Star as he flexed his arms to and abs to show off his physical abilities. Kid, now annoyed and disappointed that bronze won over his brains, went back to the sand.

Lord Death, Stein, Spirit, and Sid stood in the academy's basement in front of the large wooden door where Katya had cut the seal. Stein lit a cigarette as he looked away from the sight as Spirit put his hands in his pockets. Sid stood in awe at the sigh as his jaw dropped a little more than the usual, "How...those seals...they were said to have been unbreakable..."

"Only the power of a shinigami or an even stronger witch could cut them," Death noted as he stood in front of the door, "With the seals broken...i'm afraid the kishin will soon realize he is able to leave freely."

"Can't you just put another one on?" Spirit asked as he glared at the door.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple really," Death turned to face the others, "That seal was made of the same skin as the kishin. The rest of his skin I used to keep him tied away."

"Besides, Medusa will just have Katya cut it away again," Stein grumbled after taking a drag from his smoke.

"I don't think Katya did it intentionally," Spirit glared over at Stein, "That girl is a witch, but she's not our enemy."

"How can we be so sure when she agreed to do Medusa's bidding? It's only natural for her to betray us and become one of those witches," Stein argued as he matched Spirit's glare.

"Settle down you two, this is no time to argue," Death stated as he stood in between them, "What we need to do is figure out what to do about her instead of what may or may not happen in the future. I knew when I brought her here that forbidding her to use her magic would be troublesome for her. Like we all agree, she's naturally a witch and will naturally rely on her powers to help her. However, we've trained her enough to use her weapon, Astrid, to no longer rely on her powers. What we need to do is figure out how to balance both her abilities."

They all stood silent for a few moments. Then, Sid spoke up, "This is a long shot, but what if we introduce her to the academy as a witch?"

"Do you really want her to be killed in her sleep?" Spirit looked over at Sid, "The students here all hate witches. If they find out that she's a witch, i'll give her a day to run before they catch up to her and cut her head off."

"I don't think that's a good idea as of right now," Death commented as he turned back towards the wooden door, "Not because of the students, but because of the other witches out there. Medusa sought Katya out. Katya did not go to Medusa. In that thought, Medusa needed Katya's abilities because Katya is stronger than her."

"So she's stronger than that bitch. Who's to say that Katya didn't realize this by now?" Stein asked as he finished his cigarette, "All i'm saying is that we should kill her while she's still on our side."

"Are you insane?" Spirit growled as he took a threatening step towards Stein, "She's just barely 14, she's not even a developed woman yet and you want to kill her? What if she saves your life and you want to just off her right there?"

"I couldn't careless if she were a child or an old hag. A witch is a witch and I say we kill her now before she becomes something we can't handle," Stein stated, then turned his gaze to Lord Death, "In any case, Medusa fled, but she'll be back to finish her job with Katya."

"Are you sure about that?" Death looked over his shoulder to Stein.

"What do you mean, Lord Death?" Sid asked.

"Think about it. Katya realized Medusa's plan at the last second and declined. She tried to fight and kill Medusa just before you two showed up. She could've killed Medusa if she had her magic to use, but she did not change even when it would've saved all of you the trouble," Death explained before turning to face them fully, "That is why I did not intervene and punish her or Astrid. Katya has been here long enough to know what is right and what is wrong. She is a powerful witch today because of knowing just that. Her fear of death and becoming mad with power has made her to where she could fight the Grand Witch herself."

The others flinched at that knowledge. Stein knew that Katya was strong, but that powerful? He scoffed lightly before lighting another cigarette, "All the more reason to get rid of her. We can't fully trust a witch even if she was raised in this academy all of her life so far."

"We're just going around and around in circles," Spirit sighed as he stretched his arms, "If we're going to come up with any conclusions, then we need to be on the same page. Stein, Katya isn't going to be killed anytime soon. Yes, she accidentally cut the seal, but we're not going to crucify her for that."

"What if we brought in a witch to teach her to supress the urge to use her magic?" Sid spoke up, only to have the others look at him as if he spoke gibberish.

"And where were you planning on getting a witch to actually help us?" Stein rolled his eyes.

"Oh..." Sid put a hand on his head, "..nevermind.."

"That is a good idea, but Stein's meaning is realistic," Death sighed, "Katya is the only witch in this academy. I brought her here to start a process of teaching witches about the DWMA and have them fight alongside the other meisters. Her progress only proves to me that my experiment was a success. What I want us to talk about is introducing her to the academy as a witch."

"Hey! I said-" Sid shouted, only to be silenced when Death looked over at him.

Death cleared his throat before continuing, "I don't mean for us to come out and just tell everyone that she's a witch, but for her to use her magic and protect the city. In that case, we must come up with an idea that won't kill anyone, but be strong enough for her to have no other option."

By nightfall, a bonfire was made for everyone to sit around and have something to eat. Katya snuck away and brought out a hidden cooler she had brought filled with hard liquor. While everyone ate, Katya changed the music to something more 'party-like' and held up a few, colorful shots, "Anyone up for a round or two?"

Everyone, besides Black Star, Liz, Patti, and Soul, seemed surprised and worried at the sight of the alcohol. Liz was the first one to stand up, "Finally, now it's a real party."

"But we're under-aged, we'll get in trouble," Maka quickly stood up to take away the shots, only to have Katya quickly pour a shot in her mouth.

Maka was forced to swallow and nearly gagged at the strong taste it left. Liz laughed before taking a few shots herself as Patti began passing them out to everyone. Soon enough, everyone had a little something to drink before the drunk dancing started to appear. Katya sat on top of the cooler and had a beer with Black Star as he continued to flex his muscles as his face began to flush from the alcohol. She happily appeased his masculinity by grabbing his muscles and saying how strong he had gotten.

Later, the others began to pair up and hang out by themselves as the sun fully set and the moon began to rise. Katya had a third beer from the cooler before she saw Black Star passed out on the ground. She figured he was a light weight from his smaller size. A smile crept on her face as she felt the alcohol rushing to her head as well.

"Katya."

Katya slowly turned to see Tsubaki behind her. It was almost funny, they both wore the same bikini and yet Katya didn't feel any competition with her anymore. She stood up and opened the cap off of her beer as she faced Tsubaki, "Yeah?"

"I want to talk," Tsubaki answered, then looked at the beer, "Is this a bad time?"

She followed Tsubaki's gaze and shrugged, tossing the bottle behind her and followed Tsubaki to a private spot on the beach. Tsubaki faced Katya when they were alone with her left arm holding her right arm, "You've been seeing my meister for almost a month now. I can't say i'm pleased with it because he was once close to me and now he has you to tell everything to."

Though she was a little drunk, Katya still understood where this conversation was heading. She had heard enough of it from Astrid about how she had someone else now. Katya placed her hands softly on her hips and kept her gaze firmly on Tsubaki, "You've known him longer than me. I've always been in the class right beneath you guys and i've always looked from a distance. I've heard how he was once into you, but you gave him up. Isn't it time for you to realize that he's done chasing after you?"

Tsubaki was never a girl to talk back. Katya knew that much. She watched as she saw the anger in Tsubaki's eyes as the moon shown behind her. It was almost funny how the conversation seemed to be escalating without either of them raising their voice. Tsubaki then answered, "Black Star will always be my friend and my meister. He may have feelings for you and will remain faithful to you, but... I won't tolerate you any longer if you hurt him."

"I hardly see you actually tolerating me to begin with," Katya narrowed her eyes on Tsubaki, "You barely talk to me, you don't come over when I invite you to, and you keep your distance from me if i'm in the same room as you. And about me hurting Black Star, that's not going to happen."

"If it does happen," Tsubaki stated in a stern voice, "Or you become a threat, I will not hesitate to destroy you."

"Then we just made a promise," Katya smirked as she glowered at Tsubaki, "Let's see who keeps their promise longer than the other."

_Within the wooden doors, the kishin slowly awakened. The voices outside the door had disappeared and he could finally awaken in peace. With the seal to the door now broken, he could slowly awaken with peace. The seals holding him back were old and weak. He easily burned the seals around him from within his bag made of his flesh. His hands pressed against the bag that held him prisoner to the world until he made a slight tear. His flesh-less eye peaked out at the darkness surrounding him. It was time to wake the world from it's slumber and bring about the madness he had been dreaming of in his eternal sleep._

The sun hit Black Star's face, causing a headache to ache even more in his head. Was it from the sun? Black Star felt somewhat sick in his stomach. Maybe it wasn't the sun... He slowly opened his eyes to see he was inside Katya's apartment. As he sat up, he could only hear silence all around him and no one in sight. He checked the clock across the room to see it was already noon. Where was everybody then? He then glanced down at the calender to see it was a school day. Black Star just laid back down and stared up at the ceiling, what was missing one more day of class when he felt like shit anyways?

A few minutes later, Black Star left the couch and went to their kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. Katya was the junk-food addict while Astrid was the one who held most of the healthy shit he didn't care for. Black Star rummaged around for a bit until he found a hidden bag of chips in the very back of a cupboard. He smiled to himself, Katya would throw a fit later, but she wouldn't honestly mind. Going back to the couch, Black Star sat himself back down as he munched on the chips.

Then, something became unsettling. It was a shriek, no...almost an insane cry of delight. His soul was shaken but such a power. Then, his mind began to think. Where were the others? Were they hurt? Black Star immediately got up and left the apartment to see the sky turning black all around them. His eyes widened at how powerful whatever this thing was that was doing this to Death City. He ran as fast as he could to the academy to see where the others were at and get Tsubaki to start fighting whatever this thing was. As soon as he reached the academy, he saw all the students rushing out of the building, but he couldn't find the people he was looking for. He searched the crowds from high above until he saw Soul, Maka, and Tsubaki together on the side.

He leaped down to them and asked, "What's going on!"

"I don't know," Soul looked up at the sky, "But something is definitely wrong."

"Soul, transform for me. We have to be ready for anything," Maka stated, Soul obeyed the order and turned into his weapon form.

Tsubaki immediately changed into her shuriken weapon form as Black Star wielded her. Even though they haven't been getting along lately, he was surprised to find their soul wavelengths were still evenly matched. Then, he turned to Maka and asked quickly, "Where's Katya and Astrid?"

Maka remained silent as she looked over at Black Star. She then looked up at the sky as she waited for anything to happen, "Lord Death wanted to see her."

"No. I won't do it."

Katya stomped her foot into the ground as she glared at Lord Death, "If I do that, then everyone will know i'm a witch! My friends won't trust me anymore and i'll lose everything i've worked so hard for!"

"If you don't use your magic, then Death City will fall apart," Astrid added as she tried to reason with Katya, "Lord Death won't let anything happen to us-"

"Us?" Katya turned to face Astrid, "There's an 'us' now? You are not a witch. They will pitty you and think that I tricked you."

"Katya..." Astrid lowered her gaze, "Lets be reasonable..."

"Reasonable will be for you to fight the kishin, Lord Death," Katya whirled around and pointed her finger at Death, "You're a Shinigami! You fight him."

"Do you really want your friends to be open to an attack by the kishin?" Lord Death asked her as he showed her the mirror to see all of her friends waiting and watching the sky, "The kishin will emerge any second now and you won't protect them and Death City?"

"Lord Death..." Katya felt her stomach knot up from anxiety, "Even with my magic...I can't defeat a kishin of that size and power."

"Then fight alongside me," Lord Death offered, "If you're going to open yourself up to the entire academy, you'll be doing so fighting along side their Shinigami and mentor."

Katya looked over at Astrid as her weapon smiled meekly at her. She was still surprised that throughout her weeks of not hanging out with her as much, Astrid stayed by her side at that moment. Her hand reached out and lightly grasped Astrid's shoulder, "Just..tell me you'll be ok."

"I won't leave this room," Astrid smiled as she felt worry for her meister, "I'll keep my eye on you the entire time."

"Then it's settled," Lord Death stated, "Katya, keep your Soul Protection spell on for now. I'll tell you when you need to release it and take your witch soul from Astrid. Understood?"

"Yes," both girls answered together.

Before Katya left with Death, she turned around to see Astrid nervously shaking as she kept her gaze to the floor. Katya walked over to Astrid and hugged her one last time, "Whatever happens, I don't want you to get hurt."

Katya then released Astrid and ran back to Lord Death. She was nervous at what may happen after the entire city knows that she's a witch. A part of her was optomistic that they'll respect her even more, but the other side knew that what happened to her family and countless other witches before her was a most likely outcome. She walked outside to the balcony where Lord Death watched as the kishin, Asura, rose into the sky and let out a powerful shriek of his awakening. Katya was in shock that she had released such a terrible monster because of Medusa...

"There he is," Lord Death murmured, "Asura... Well, Katya, it's time to change. Be quick."

Though she hesitated for a few seconds. She glanced down beneath the balcony to see Black Star with the others as they stared up at the kishin. Death already flew into the sky with ease and approached Asura. Katya took one deep breath before closing her eyes to concentrate. She accessed Astrid's soul and undid her Soul Protection sepell. Then, she retrieved her witch soul. A low rumble assumed all around her as she felt her soul wavelength clashing with the kishin's. Her eyes opened slowly as she stepped onto the balcony railing. She glanced below to see all eyes were on her. Was he watching? Katya's hawk-like eyes gazed down at Black Star below to see his expression went from fear, to relief, to shock all at once.

She sprouted her long wings as her two Spirit Hawks flew in circles above her. Katya quickly took off into the sky and circled above Death and Asura, listening to their conversation. She wouldn't let this kishin destroy her city or hurt anyone here. Then, the battle started. Asura made his first attack on Death while the Shinigami easily dodged the attack at first. Katya circled inward as she changed her normal feet to that of a hawk's talons and caught hold of the Shinigami. He fought against her grasp, even biting her in the process, but she sent him plummetting towards the ground before Death caught him in his grasp and sent a shockwave to Asura. Death then punches Asura back up to the skies where Katya's Spirit Hawks catch Asura and hold him easily by his limbs.

Katya summons a bow and arrow, and aims the tip of the arrow at Asura's head. The kishin then looked up, chuckling over at Katya. She angrily growls and states, "You're in no position to mock me."

"Is that so?" Asura continued to chuckle, "I never thought I'd see the day a witch fight with Death."

She didn't respond to Asura's statement and fired magic-filled arrow straight through Asura. His skin left an unsightly opening where she shot him through. Death used his jetpacks to get back up in the sky where he, his voice now deeper, stated over to Asura, "I'll skin you alive and place you back where you belong, you disgusting swine."

Katya strung another arrow before aiming at Asura again. She could feel his madness trying to cloud her mind, but through years of training and discipline, she knew to resist the temptation. Though...she could taste the power that could be hers. All she needed to do was turn her arrow towards Death... Katya forced herself to become aware of her surroundings instead of inside her head. She glared over at Asura as she heard him chuckling again. Hearing his laughter, even the slightest bit, was pissing her off more and more. Death turned to her slightly and spoke softly, "Calm yourself down. Getting angry isn't going to help anything."

"Right," Katya answered before taking a deep breath and continued to concentrate.

Then, Asura's body began to glow. Katya prepared her arrow, until Death moved in front of her and ordered, "Protect the city, this is my fight now."

Katya, confused, reluctantly obeyed and circled them for a distance. She watched as four spherical auras formed around Asura and, in horror, watched as two opened at the top to reveal eyes. Asura's spirit was enormously powerful, much more stronger than her own. Katya then spread her wings to it's max as she prepared to a defense, "Hawk, hawk, bird, bird..."

Then, a beam of energy went straight for Lord Death and another beam went down to the city below. Katya acted quickly as she shouted, "Deflect!"

Her wings went to enormous length as her Spirit Hawks went to deflect the beam of energy. Katya's wings followed the Hawks where one deflected the one against the city where the students were gathered and the other in front of Lord Death. To deflect the energy, Katya had to keep her soul from shattering to pieces as well as harnessing her own physical capabilities. First, she forced her Hawks to absorb the intense energy. She could feel her soul starting to crack from the maddness within the beams. Then, she had to find the ability to send it right back without the maddness. In order to absorb the maddness within the energy, she had to keep it hidden within her magic. Katya felt the insanity eating at her soul and her mind, beckoning her to bask in the darkness and slip up just once. She fought the urge before harnessing the purity of the energy beam before sending it right back to Asura.

Asura was sent far back into the sky where Death followed him as fast as he could..that is until Death reached his limit. Katya, exhausted from absorbing such power, managed to keep her flight intact as she watched the last scene. Asura, realizing that Death could no longer follow him, looked at his own damaged body from his energy blast being sent back at him. The kishin then turned his attention back to Death, "Looks like you're stuck here. You can watch as I turn this world to what it should be."

"I don't think so!"

Katya angrily flew passed Death, who caught her by the ankle, "Get back here!"

"But the kishin-"

"You've done your part," Death stated before yanking her back behind him, then faced the kishin, "Asura, you can run for now. But you will be found and killed. Go ahead and hide from while you can."

Her eyes widened in shock as she looked over at Death. The kishin didn't hesitate to flee as Katya's jaw dropped from surprise. He let the kishin go so easily? Death took her wrist as he lowered them to the ground as Katya transformed her feet back to normal, human feet and retracted her wings back into her skin. She was nervous now more than ever to see the others in her true form. Katya then saw Astrid leaving the academy and instantly closed her eyes as soon as her feet met the ground. She sent her witch soul back to Astrid where Astrid's soul kept the witch soul safely locked away. Katya opened her eyes again to see everyone glaring at her suspiciously. This was what she feared the most. Instead of acting scared or worried, Katya kept a calm face as she remained silent. Not once did she try to hurt them or use her magic against them. Astrid rushed over to Katya and assumed her position at her side facing the crowd.

"She's a witch..."

"...I always had a feeling..."

Katya didn't grimace as they glowered at her. She looked over in pitty at Astrid as her weapon remained true to her. Gently, she pushed Astrid slightly to the side, "You don't deserve the treatment they'll give me. Go to the side and let me take this."

"I will never leave your side," Astrid firmly stated in a hushed whisper to Katya, then turned her head slightly towards her, "I am your friend and your weapon."

Lord Death lowered himself behind Katya and Astrid to address the crowd, "I'm sure all of you are curious to know what has happened."

"No shit..." Katya heard Soul say in the distance.

"Well, as it appears, the kishin sleeping beneath the academy has awakened and has escaped. Do not fear him. He's only hiding at this point and we'll find him before he causes any damage," Lord Death explained.

"Yeah? Well what about the witch?" a random person in the crowd called out.

Katya remained frozen until she saw a person pushing through the crowd. Black Star appeared from behind a few people and stood just as frozen as if he couldn't believe to hear she was a witch until he saw her. In that moment, it was as if she stood naked in front of him. Now he, and everyone else, knew who she was and what she was. She was never ashamed to be a witch before, but now all she wanted to do was be a normal human like anyone else. Lord Death then continued as Katya and Black Star kept their gaze on each other, "Yes, Katya Osaki is a witch that i've allowed to follow the same rules all of you follow. For that, she has been allowed to keep her life as long as she kept to her studies and followed my order. She has saved you, your homes, your friends, your families, and this city from a powerful kishin. If that is not enough to say you can welcome her new identity, then it's a good possibility you do not have enough compassion to be a meister either."

No one seemed to move or say anything about what was going on. Then, Liz and Patti walked through the crowd and stood next to Katya. Liz patted Katya on the back and smirked, "Nice work, you showed that kishin how to kick ass."

Patti playfully patted Astrid's head as Astrid gave a confused glance towards Katya. Maka and Soul walked passed the crowd towards Katya. The Sythe Meister extended her hand towards Katya, "You were my friend before and you're my friend now."

"Yeah, you'll have to spar me some time with your magic so I can fight a witch and become a Death Sythe," Soul smirked as he raised his hand slightly.

Katya shook Maka's hand before giving a high five to Soul with a smirk on her face. She was starting to become more confident as even Death the Kid walked towards her. At first, she was nervous since he was the son of Death and be angry at her for being a witch in the first place. Instead, a gleam in his eyes appeared as Liz looked away in embarressment, "The balance of good and evil within you...is symmetrical.."

"Yeah..ugh..." Katya glanced away, "Thanks, Kid."

"C'mon, lover boy, give the girl her space," Liz dragged Kid away from Katya.

Tsubaki then approached Katya as the crowd watched in awe. She kept a sharp gaze on Katya as the witch did the same. They held their gaze as Tsubaki stood in front of her. Katya looked passed Tsubaki to see Black Star had yet to move from his spot. Was he angry with her? Katya lowered her gaze, but picked it back up to stare back at Tsubaki.

"You made a promise to me last night," Tsubaki reminded her, "I hope you will keep it."

"I've kept it true so far," Katya stated.

With that said, Tsubaki turned and stood next to Maka. Katya looked back at Black Star to see he was merging through the crowd to leave. She stood for a moment until she felt a light push on her back. When she turned to see who touched her, she heard a voice say to her, "Go to him."

Katya didn't hesitate as she went around the crowd and followed Black Star down the street. He broke out into a rapid-pace run as Katya did her best to keep up. If he wanted to break up with her, that was fine, but she wanted to let him know the truth and why she kept it from him. Katya finally managed to keep up with Black Star until he stopped running in an alley. She knew he could easily get away from her, but he must've been tired of running from her. He turned around, but he didn't look at her.

"I know you're mad at me, but I only kept it a secret because I had to," Katya breathlessly explained, "I didn't have the choice!"

"You upstaged me.."

That little comment flared Katya's rage as she thought that upstaging him was the only reason he was mad, but it wasn't. She knew him better now and understood he was angry with her about her secret. Katya took a deep breath before explaining, "I was brought her a witch, my mother, my grandmother, and all the women before were witches. Not only that, my father and the rest of his family were a bunch of murderers. I just come from a line of destruction and Lord Death saved me from that by bringing me here and allowing me to keep my secret safe."

"I'm not mad about that," Black Star glared at the ground.

"Then tell me why you're mad!" Katya finally let out her frustration, "If you don't tell me-"

"I'm mad because you're a witch," he stated as he crossed his arms.

She had no words to express the pain she felt. His cold stare finally met her gaze and it took her soul away. Katya nearly faultered as she reached to the side to balance herself on a building. In her mind, she repeated to herself that the situation hadn't gotten that bad. She had to keep it together, she couldn't break down in front of him like that. It took all she had to bring herself to look up at Black Star to see the discrimination in his eyes, "That can't be the only reason.."

"You lied to me," Black Star's fists tightened, "How am I supposed to think you didn't just use some type of spell on me to make me like you? You could've made a potion in some big, ugly pot and slipped into my food to make me like you even more! For all I know, this is one big, fat, ugly lie and everything that's been going through my head is nothing."

"I never did anything like that!" Katya raised her voice as her anger grew, "I can't even cast a spell-"

"And that's why you had that book in your apartment!" Black Star pointed a finger at her, "You were going to raise your family so you could do whatever you were planning to do!"

"Well, fuck you!" Katya shouted before stating, "I was going to use that book to raise your god damn family so you could have someone of your family back! Why the hell would I want my family if they'll either cast a spell on me or slit my throat in my sleep for the laugh!"

Black Star didn't answer as he tried to find the right explination to give. Katya took a deep breath before saying, "This is a lot to handle in one night."

Katya turned to walk away, but stopped walking when she saw Black Star quickly appear in front of her. She saw the disappointment in his eyes and didn't have to say anything. Then, Black Star looked up at her and merely stated, "It's over."


End file.
